Tucson Second Chance Community Bail Fund Executive Director Lola Rainey is an attorney, poet, writer, and activist. She discussed TSCCBF’s work to address the disproportionate impact of the cash bail system on communities of color and vulnerable populations in Pima County.
TSCCBF is a black woman lead, abolitionist, grassroots organization working to help restore economic justice and dignity to people by helping them return home, keep their jobs, retain custody of their children and fight their cases in court. The Fund is an outgrowth of Black Lives Matter (BLM) Tucson’s May 2017 “Mama Bailout Campaign” to help bail out mothers. Many people in jail have not been found guilty or sentenced and yet remain incarcerated because they are unable to make bail.
In a December 27, 2019 press release they claim that two recent jail deaths from excessive force encounters with correctional officers are linked to corruption, racism and a culture of violence in the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. “The community must reset its moral compass by demanding greater transparency and accountability from Sheriff Napier.”
They recently hosted a training with Tucson Standing Up For Racial Justice about risk assessment tools (RATs) and the pre-trial safety assessments (PSAs). They plan to roll out multiple campaigns over the coming months to address what they see as the problematic use of these “tools” and to further their ongoing fight to end pre-trial detention in Pima County.
Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.
