LANCASTER, Pa. — The Central Pennsylvania Equity Project is launching a bail fund aimed at allowing more defendants to wait out their legal hearings without being held in jail. The bail fund would reduce the number of pre-trial detentions by paying bail for those who can’t afford it.
The cash bail system causes inequities, said Equity Project CEO John Maina, because it takes valuable time away from the most vulnerable.
In Pennsylvania, within 72 hours of an arrest defendants have an arraignment, where bail is set. But public defenders are usually assigned until the defendants’ preliminary hearing, held 7 to 10 days after the arrest.
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