Dallas needs bail reform, but not a policy that puts violent offenders back on the streets

This troubling trend deserves review.

Imagine a mother arrested for shoplifting groceries languishing in the county lockup because she can’t afford the bail to get out. While she sits in jail, she loses her job and her family’s struggles are amplified.

No one will argue against reforms that enable such a mother to afford bail and return to her family quickly enough to hold onto her job.

On the strength of that kind of example, we’ve seen bail reform pushed in Texas and other states. And we have strongly supported that type of reform because the way bail in Dallas and other counties has been administered can undercut the due process rights of poor defendants.

But it now appears that there is another type of bail “reform” that is growing into a national movement championed by some district attorneys. This type of bail reform drives toward the uncritical release, on outrageously low bonds, of people accused of violent crimes who have a history of violent behavior.

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