Sade Smith joins HeartBeat with Cindi Bright to talk about jail reform and the King County Jail

Lawyer Sade Smith joined HeartBeat with Cindi Bright to discuss efforts to reform the King County Jail as well as the King County court and bail system.

“Our community members are having large amounts of bail posted on them,” Smith said. She added that the bail placed on Black people in the jail is 40% higher than the average.

“We’re seeing this disparity from the beginning,” Smith said. “Even if it was $50,000, how many people in our community could turn over even ten percent of that?”

According to Smith, the law in Washington is that the bail companies will post the money, but the individual must pay 10 - 15% to the company.

“You never get that money back, and then you have to put down collateral as well,” Smith said. “Essentially, the courts are allowing the bail companies to extract resources from the community that the community simply doesn’t have.”

Smith said that individuals who can’t post bail wind up stuck in jail conditions which can have lifelong effects. The King County Jail’s suicide rate is 8 times higher than the national average, an issue Smith and other activists are working to address.

“What’s happening in our jails is egregious,” Smith said. “Everywhere else in the world our jail system would be considered torture.”

The campaign to shut down the King County Jail has been gaining momentum since the tragic death of Michael Rowland. Mr. Rowland was pinned down by officers and later found dead in his cell.

“I would say he was murdered,” Smith said. “It was horrific.”

Smith adds that shutting down the jail and reforming the jail system is in line with statistics and other efforts to increase community safety.

“Jail actually harms you, because when people are released they are so destabilized,” Smith said. “Studies show that when they are released early on bail or given housing first, they do not re-offend. That’s what we should be focusing on.”

You can watch the full interview above