XPost: talk.politics.guns, in.general, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: sac.politics

Indiana lawmakers are working to crack down on bail charities after one
such nonprofit sprung two defendants from jail who were subsequently
charged with grisly murders.

Republican legislators have crafted a bill to regulate bail funds after
local press reported that a national nonprofit called The Bail Project
bonded out two accused offenders subsequently charged with homicides in Indianapolis. An Indiana state Senate committee on Tuesday heard testimony about the bill from Nikki Sterling, the mother of one of the people
allegedly murdered by a Bail Project client.

"In principle, aiding an individual who stole food to feed their family is admirable," Sterling told the committee on Tuesday. "However, The Bail
Project is bailing out offenders with violent criminal histories. And
sadly, it's the very communities they claim to be advocating for that are
now in harm's way by having these dangerous individuals back out on the street."

The Bail Project's Indianapolis clients who prompted the new legislation
are Travis Lang and Marcus Garvin. Lang has been charged with the Oct. 1 shooting death of 24-year-old Dylan McGinnis, Sterling's son. The Bail
Project and a for-profit bail bondsman helped Lang post a $5,650 bond for
a drug charge, despite prior felony prosecutions for burglary and
resisting law enforcement.

Garvin is accused of murdering his girlfriend, 30-year-old Christie Lynn
Holt. Garvin allegedly stabbed Holt 51 times because he suspected her of cheating on him, then attempted to dismember her body before disposing of
it near a creek.

Garvin was out on a $1,500 bond with an ankle monitor at the time of
Holt's murder. He was arrested in December 2020 for stabbing a customer at
a gas station where he worked the checkout counter. Garvin allegedly
followed the customer out of the station's convenience store, stabbed him
in the back, and resumed checking out customers until authorities arrived, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Indianapolis is one of many American cities struggling against a surge of violent crime. It’s a crisis of many causes. Some cities have poured huge
sums into diversionary programs at the expense of law enforcement, while
police grapple with the same staffing shortages plaguing the private
sector. And many jurisdictions curtailed pretrial detention in the name of COVID mitigation, a boon for repeat offenders. Indianapolis set a record
for murders in 2021, and more than 700 people were wounded in shootouts.

State senator Aaron Freeman (R.), the Indiana bill's author and lead
sponsor, told the Washington Free Beacon that ending the crime wave is an economic as well as public safety imperative.

"We pride ourselves on being a welcoming place," Freeman said. "We've got
to get our arms around this. If we don't, my fear is it's going to hurt
the economic engine of this state."

The bill is one of the first legislative efforts in the nation to regulate
bail charities. Donations to such organizations soared during the 2020
Floyd riots, fueled by Democratic politicians keen on helping
demonstrators. But community bail funds vary in professionalism and
operational capacity. Some have drawn scrutiny from charity watchdogs with their spotty reporting practices and cash-hoarding tendencies.

The Indiana bill would prevent funds from bailing out accused felons or defendants with means, limiting aid to "two thousand dollars or less for
an indigent person charged with a misdemeanor." And if bail fund clients
miss court appearances, their bond payments will be reassigned to the
state's general fund, putting bail charities on the hook when their
clients don't comply with their release terms.

That latter provision will force charitable bail funds to tighten up their operations. Many community bail funds are supported by volunteers led by a cadre of paid staff. They don’t have the capacity to track client cases,
ensure they obey their release terms, or hunt fugitives like a bail
bondsman does. As such, they'll have to develop compliance practices and
become more selective at posting bail, or face the consequences. Sterling highlighted that point during her testimony on Tuesday.

"The Bail Project operates without regulation, meaning that they can bail
out whomever they want, regardless of the charge," Sterling said.
"Furthermore, once out on bond, the offender is not accountable to the charitable bail organization, and the organization does not have any
oversight of the offender once released."

Losing bail payments could undermine a bail fund's financial stability
over time. Though many bail funds have multiple revenue streams, they
usually count on bail payments they post coming back to the organization
once a client's case has been resolved. Every bail payment lost can
undercut their ability to help a future client.

The bill also forbids local and state governments from funding bail
charities. It further requires bail funds to obtain certification from the state insurance commissioner, which must be renewed every two years. The commissioner can decertify an organization if its staff misuses funds or engages in "fraud, dishonesty, or deception."

The Bail Project collected approximately $250,000 in taxpayer dollars via
an Indianapolis-funded crime prevention program administered by the
Central Indiana Community Foundation.

David Gaspar, The Bail Project's national operations director, defended
his organization to the committee on Tuesday and accused others of
exploiting the McGinnis and Holt murders to advance an anti-reform agenda.

"The manner in which they have been politicized shows a double standard
and a political agenda that must be acknowledged," he said. "What The Bail Project would like to talk to lawmakers about is how to reform the bail
system so due process is not tied to how much money a person has."

The Bail Project has assisted nearly 1,000 low-income residents in the Indianapolis area since 2018, according to Gaspar.

Freeman, the bill's sponsor, said on balance the bill simply regulates
bail charities in the same manner as for-profit bail bondsmen.

"In Indiana, our Department of Insurance regulates bail bondsmen, and
that’s what [bail charities] are doing," he told the Free Beacon.
"Everyone should play by the same set of rules."

Published under: #DefundThePolice, Bailout, Crime, Indiana

https://freebeacon.com/policy/indiana-lawmakers-crack-down-on-bail- charities-after-grisly-murders/

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)