On August 25, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a pair of sweeping executive orders aimed at ending cashless bail policies across the United States, igniting a fierce national debate about public safety, civil rights, and the proper balance of federal and local authority. The move, which threatens to withhold or revoke federal funding from jurisdictions employing cashless bail, has drawn sharp reactions from lawmakers, legal experts, criminal justice advocates, and local officials, especially in cities and states with large Black and low-income populations.
At a press conference announcing the executive orders, Trump did not mince words. "No cash. Come back in a couple of months, we'll give you a trial. You never see the person again," he said, moments before signing the orders that target local and state governments, according to reporting from ABC News. He doubled down on his stance, declaring, "Cashless bail is a disaster. It's been a horrible thing for crime, especially violent crime."
The executive orders direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to submit, within 30 days, a list of jurisdictions that have "substantially eliminated cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release from custody for crimes that pose a clear threat to public safety and order." This list is expected to overlap with a previously released set of 35 so-called "sanctuary jurisdictions"—states, counties, and cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and have already been warned they could face legal action or lose federal funding if they do not comply.
Cashless bail policies, which allow people to be released from jail without paying money while they await trial, have been adopted in some form in places like Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C. Instead of relying on a defendant's ability to pay, these systems use risk assessment tools to help judges decide whether a person is eligible for release. The aim, advocates say, is to prevent the poor from languishing behind bars simply because they cannot afford bail, while wealthier defendants can buy their freedom.
Supporters of cashless bail argue that the traditional system penalizes poverty and exacerbates racial inequalities. According to a report by the Prison Policy Initiative, Black Americans are already over 25% more likely to be held in jail pretrial with bail than white people facing similar charges. The American Bar Association has found that Black people are more often assigned bail—and at higher amounts—than their white counterparts. The consequences can be devastating: a federal probation report from 2018 found that nearly 60% of people incarcerated for just three days lost their jobs or were forced to change employment, and some lost custody of their children or were evicted from public housing.
Criminal justice advocates warn that Trump's executive orders will disproportionately impact low-income and Black communities, who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. "There is no public safety crisis here, only a political one. This executive order is not about crime, it’s about control," wrote Clinique Chapman, CEO of the D.C. Justice Lab, in an emailed statement to Capital B. "Replacing our system with a money-based model would mean jailing people simply because they’re poor. Once again, it’s DC’s Black residents that will pay the price." Multiple organizations, including the ACLU, the Vera Institute of Justice, and the Advancement Project, have denounced the administration’s assessment of Washington’s cashless bail system, which has been a nationally recognized model since 1992.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has defended the city's approach, pointing to an emergency crime bill passed in June 2024 that expanded the list of offenses ineligible for pretrial detention and, she says, has reduced crime in the district. "It, I frankly think, has worked better than any system," Bowser said at Monday’s press conference, as reported by Capital B.
Despite the rhetoric from the White House, recent research has cast doubt on the claim that cashless bail fuels crime. A 2024 report by Loyola University of Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice, published one year after Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail, found that crime did not increase after the policy was implemented; in fact, violent and property crime declined in some counties. Similarly, a 2024 study by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law found "no statistically significant relationship" between bail reform and crime rates across 33 U.S. cities from 2015 to 2021. The researchers concluded, "Put simply, there was no significant difference in crime rates between cities that reformed their bail policies and those that did not."
Nonetheless, the Trump administration has pointed to a 2022 report from the district attorney's office in Yolo County, California, which found that 70.6% of 595 individuals released under a temporary cashless bail system during the pandemic were rearrested, with over half rearrested more than once. Critics of cashless bail argue that such data proves the system allows dangerous individuals to reoffend, giving them, in effect, a license to commit additional crimes while awaiting trial.
Beyond the debate over crime rates, Trump’s orders have triggered a legal and political standoff. Legal experts note that while the federal government cannot directly override local bail laws, it can apply political or financial pressure. Insha Rahman, vice president of advocacy and partnerships at the Vera Institute of Justice, said, "Cities and states should be ready with a plan of action to challenge these unconstitutional actions—this overreach—in court." Mayors of cities such as Baltimore, Boston, and Oakland, as well as Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, have indicated they will resist federal intervention. Pritzker told Trump bluntly: "Don’t come to Chicago."
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has directed federal agents to pursue charges that allow individuals to be held in pretrial detention without bail, effectively bypassing local judges’ discretion. The New York Times reported that, even before the executive orders were signed, federal prosecutors in Washington had already begun charging individuals with minor offenses to detain them pretrial.
There is also turmoil within the judiciary. In New Jersey, a legal standoff over Alina Habba acting as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey without lawful authority has caused at least 12 federal judges to adjourn proceedings, postponing trials, guilty pleas, and sentencing hearings. U.S. District Judge Matthew Braun delayed the impact of his order pending appeal, which is expected to continue through mid-October 2025. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Coyne warned that prolonged appeals risk indefinite adjournments, harming the interests of the government, defendants, and the public.
Trump has also renewed calls for the Senate to reconsider the "blue slip" tradition, which allows senators to object to judicial nominees from their home states, arguing that the practice is obstructing the confirmation of his appointees. Senate Republicans, however, have defended the longstanding custom, highlighting the complex interplay between executive action and legislative norms.
As the legal and political battles unfold, the future of cashless bail—and the broader direction of criminal justice reform in America—remains uncertain. What is clear is that the stakes are high, with real consequences for defendants, communities, and the broader public’s faith in the justice system. The coming months will reveal whether Trump’s executive orders reshape the landscape or spark a new wave of legal challenges and resistance from the states and cities most affected.
