Justice Orgs Challenge Nashville Bail-Related Rule as 'Illegal and Wrong'

A group of civil rights and criminal justice reform organizations are challenging a Davidson County court rule that garnishes bond for payment of fines, court costs and restitution. It's a rule the groups say violates state and federal law. 

The groups — including the ACLU, Civil Rights Corps and Choosing Justice Initiative — lay out their argument in a letter to Nashville's criminal court judges. They say they "would like to resolve our issues with Rule 10(B) without resorting to litigation," but leave that option on the table. 

“The only purpose of this local bail rule is to generate revenue — it is a shameful violation of the rights of people caught in the criminal legal system," said Andrea Woods, a staff attorney with the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project, in the groups' announcement. "Money bail has been abused to fuel our pretrial incarceration crisis. Davidson County’s policy — which fills county and state coffers by misappropriating bail money, regardless of what happens in the case the bond was related to — is illegal and wrong. If the Davidson Criminal Court is not responsive, we look forward to seeing it in court.”

In a release to media, they summarize how the rule works:

Davidson County Criminal Court Local Rule of Practice for Bail Bonds 10(B) requires anyone who posts a cash bond to agree that the deposit will be subject to garnishment for fines, court costs and restitution. The rule is enforced pretrial and applies to all people arrested in Davidson County, regardless of their pretrial conduct or history of successful court appearances.

In other words, if a person posts a cash bond for a criminal defendant, they will not receive the full amount back upon the resolution of the case. Rather, court costs and other charges will be removed from that deposit before it is returned. 

The groups argue that the rule "violates due process, the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and Tennessee laws restricting when bail bond deposits can be used to offset fines, fees and costs." In their letter to the judges, they write that the rule "does not serve any of the public’s traditional interests in bail. Garnishing bail deposits does nothing to promote court appearance or public safety."  

“Money bail is already one of the most corrupt and broken parts of our criminal justice system and this rule is one more example of the system valuing fortune over fairness,”  says Hedy Weinberg, the ACLU-TN executive director, in a prepared statement. “This rule violates the law by siphoning money away from families of people who can least afford it while doing nothing to promote justice, improve court appearances or ensure public safety. Worse, this rule deters individuals from posting cash bonds, instead supporting the robust bail bond industry, which is exempt from the rule.”

The local rule was at the center of a dispute involving the Nashville Community Bail Fund earlier this year. After initially exempting the fund from the local rule, the court issued an order stating that it would begin applying it to cash bonds posted by the fund. That change, the fund's leaders argued, would significantly hinder its ability to function as it has for three years, using a revolving fund from which bond money can be drawn. 

“Our courts are supposed to be a place where people find justice, not a shakedown," says  Choosing Justice Initiative executive director Dawn Deaner. "This rule is emblematic of how money infects our legal system and creates disparities between the haves and the have-nots. Eliminating this rule will not solve all the problems inherent in Nashville’s money bail system, but it’s a start. It’s also the right and lawful thing to do.” 

The groups urge the court to "immediately suspend the rule."