The Philadelphia Bail Fund was a criminal justice advocacy group that posted bail for low-income prisoners in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while advocating for an end to the city’s cash bail system. As of 2023, the group has ceased operations. ^{1 2}

Overview

The Philadelphia Bail Fund was founded in 2017 by several left-of-center activists including then-University of Pennsylvania student Arjun Malik. ³

The group claimed its focus was to post bail for prisoners within local Philadelphia city jails while also advocating for broader criminal justice policy reform including ending the city’s cash bail system entirely. ¹ It also engaged in litigation, at one point suing over bail hearing transparency and city jails’ compliance with court orders regarding prisoner recreation time outside of cells. ^{4 5}

In its 2020 annual report, it claimed to have bailed out 401 prisoners from pre-trial confinement at a cost of $2 million since it began operations. ⁶

Between its founding in 2017 and its announced “pause” of operations in October 2023, the Philadelphia Bail Fund claimed to have posted more than $4 million in bail for more than 1,000 people. ²

In its last annual filing with the Internal Revenue Service, the Philadelphia Bail Fund reported $4,143,165 in net assets. ⁷

Litigation

In 2019, the Philadelphia Bail Fund sued to overturn Philadelphia courts’ practice of having bail hearings be “off the record,” with neither a court reporter nor audio recording. ⁸ The Fund was represented by the Georgetown Law Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. ⁸ The suit was successful, with a federal judge ruling that the practices violated the First Amendment “in so far as they prohibit the public to audio-record bail hearings.” ⁴ Philadelphia courts were required to either provide official court transcripts or allow audio recording by attendees in the audience. ⁴

In 2021, the Philadelphia Bail Fund and the unaffiliated Philadelphia Community Bail Fund sued the city over its failure to comply with court orders requiring prisoners to have at least three hours outside their cells each day. ⁵ Each of the bail funds received $125,000 from the city as part of a negotiated settlement of the suit. ⁵

Funding

The Philadelphia Bail Fund received funding from several left-of-center groups including the Scattergood Foundation, ⁹ the Patricia Kind Family Foundation, ¹⁰ Funding for Social Change, ¹¹ and Bread & Roses Community Fund. ¹²

1. “About the Philadelphia Bail Fund.” Philadelphia Bail Fund. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://www.phillybailfund.org/about-the-fund.
2. Conde, Ximena. “Philadelphia Bail Fund Has Paused Operations.” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 31, 2023. https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-bail-fund-pause-20231031.html.
3. Riise, Caroline. “A Penn Senior Has Helped Raise over $20,000 for Philadelphia Residents Who Cannot Afford Bail.” The Daily Pennsylvanian, October 31, 2017. https://www.thedp.com/article/2017/10/a-penn-senior-has-helped-raise-over-20000-for-philadelphia-residents-who-cannot-afford-bail.
4. Moselle, Aaron. “Federal Judge Says It’s Unconstitutional to Bar Recordings of Bail Hearings.” WHYY, February 27, 2020. https://whyy.org/articles/federal-judge-philly-courts-must-record-bail-hearings/.
5. Press, Associated. “Philly to Pay $125K to Bail Funds over Lack of Out-of-Cell Time at Jails.” NBC10 Philadelphia, June 24, 2021. https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/philadelphia-pay-bail-funds-jail-cell-time/2857704/.
6. “2020 Annual Report.” Philadelphia Bail Fund. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://www.phillybailfund.org/annual-report-2020.
7. “Philadelphia Bail Fund, Full Filing .” ProPublica, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/821360589/202313209349302551/full.
8. “Philadelphia Bail Fund V. Bernard.” Georgetown Law. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/our-work/opening-americas-courts/philadelphia-bail-fund-v-bernard/.
9. “Philadelphia Bail Fund.” The Scattergood Foundation, January 31, 2022. https://www.scattergoodfoundation.org/projects/philadelphia-bail-fund/.
10. “Grants 2010 – Current Year.” Grants 2010 – current year | The Patricia Kind Family Foundation. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://pkindfamilyfoundation.org/grants?combine=&year=2021&page=2.
11. “Sponsor an Organization.” Funding for Social Change. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://fundingforsocialchange.com/sponsor-an-organization/.
12. “2023 Grantees: Bread & Roses Community Fund.” Bread & Roses Community Fund | Change, not Charity, January 3, 2024. https://breadrosesfund.org/2023-grantees/.