Let’s say you have a few outstanding parking tickets you haven’t paid because you can’t. Now there’s a warrant for your arrest. The cops pull you over for a broken taillight you couldn’t afford to fix, and they throw you in jail. Bail is set, but you can’t afford that either. So you sit, and you sit … and you wait and wait … for your day in court.

How long before you need your medication? How long before you lose your job? Before you’re evicted? Before they take away your kids? How long before this broken system ruins your life?

Poor people in Cuyahoga County routinely spend weeks or months in jail for minor, non-violent offenses simply because they cannot afford bail. This is not justice. We deserve better.
GCC is committed to preventing unjust jail before trial.