The Bail Trap

70% of people in jail are there for one reason: living in poverty. Money bail is one of the main causes of mass incarceration in the United States. Yet, few people know what the money bail system is, let alone how it all works or why we need to do away with it. Join us for a screening of a film that shows why it must end. (50 min)

Ali Szemanski is a recent graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, participated in the Criminal Justice Appellate and Employment Law clinics, and worked on criminal justice and reproductive access issues for clients in the Mississippi Delta. During law school, she also gained experience in disability rights at the federal government and Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley, CA. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a paralegal for the Antitrust Practice Group at Cohen Milstein. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Policy and History from Northwestern University.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization dedicated to defending and expanding individual rights and personal freedoms throughout the entire state of Pennsylvania. Through advocacy, public education and litigation, our staff and volunteers work to preserve and enhance liberties grounded in the United States and Pennsylvania constitutions and civil rights laws. Among those liberties are freedoms of speech, religion and association; the right to petition the government; separation of church and state; the right to privacy; reproductive freedom; due process of law; the rights of the accused; and the right to equal treatment under the law.