Current lobbying registries in state capitals reveal that well-funded dark money organizations continue to push bail elimination legislation despite mounting statistical evidence that previous reforms have increased violent crime and endangered public safety.
The Persistent Push
Despite the electoral backlash against progressive prosecutors and the statistical evidence linking bail reform to increased recidivism, well-funded advocacy organizations continue to lobby state legislatures across the country for the elimination or dramatic reduction of cash bail. The money behind these campaigns — flowing through 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations that don’t disclose their donors — ensures that the bail reform agenda survives political reversals that would kill less well-funded movements.
Lobbying registrations in state capitals including Albany, Sacramento, Springfield, and Harrisburg show active lobbying by organizations connected to progressive criminal justice networks. These groups employ full-time lobbyists, fund academic research supporting bail reform, and organize media campaigns in districts where bail legislation is being considered.
The Statistical Record
The evidence against bail elimination has grown substantially. Manhattan Institute analysis of jurisdictions that eliminated or reduced cash bail has documented increases in failures to appear, re-arrest rates for released defendants, and — most critically — violent crimes committed by individuals released without bail who would have been detained under previous systems.
New York’s 2020 bail reform — which eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies — produced a natural experiment whose results have been studied extensively. Re-arrest rates for released defendants increased. Failures to appear at court dates spiked. And high-profile cases of violent crimes committed by individuals released under the new bail rules generated public outrage that forced legislative amendments in 2022 and 2023.
The Funding Sources
The organizations pushing bail reform are funded by a familiar network. IRS 990 filings show grants from major progressive foundations — including entities connected to the Arabella Advisors network, the Ford Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation — flowing to organizations whose primary mission is bail system transformation. These grants fund not just lobbying but also academic research, media campaigns, and community organizing designed to build political support for bail elimination.
The Arnold Ventures foundation has been a particularly significant funder of bail reform research and advocacy, supporting both the Pretrial Justice Institute and academic studies that have been cited in legislative debates. The foundation’s position — that risk assessment tools can replace cash bail without compromising public safety — has been challenged by the real-world outcomes in jurisdictions that adopted its recommendations.
The Democratic Disconnect
Public opinion polling consistently shows that voters — including Democratic voters — support maintaining cash bail for individuals charged with violent offenses. The bail reform lobby represents the interests of institutional funders and criminal justice academics, not the communities most affected by the policy changes. In neighborhoods where violent crime is concentrated, residents overwhelmingly favor keeping dangerous individuals detained pending trial.
The persistence of bail reform lobbying despite electoral defeats and adverse data reveals an advocacy movement that answers to its funders rather than to the public. The dark money organizations bankrolling the campaign face no electoral accountability. The communities bearing the consequences of their advocacy face it daily.
Eduardo Bacci is an investigative journalist at The Investigative Journal. Data sources include FollowTheMoney.org state lobbying data, IRS 990 filings, Manhattan Institute crime data analysis, and state legislative records.