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House Judiciary advances bills targeting charitable bail funds and cashless-bail jurisdictions
Summary
The House Judiciary Committee on markup moved two Republican-backed measures that would subject nonprofit bail funds to insurance-style regulation and condition Byrne JAG grants on stateswith cashless-bail policies. The measures passed committee votes after heated debate that intertwined bill text with reactions to a separate Minneapolis ICE shooting.
Representative Michael Fitzgerald, the sponsor of HR 62 60, framed his bill as a narrow consumer- and public-safety measure and told the Judiciary Committee it would "define bail bonds as an insurance product," bringing charitable bail funds under insurance regulation and federal background-check requirements under the Federal Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1994. Fitzgerald said charitable bail funds grew dramatically after 2020 and argued that crowdsourced donations are "nearly indistinguishable from crowdsourcing websites," sometimes enabling defendants accused of violent crimes to be released with little oversight.
Supporters emphasized oversight and accountability. Fitzgerald said the change would not ban nonprofit bail assistance and that family or friends posting cash bail would not be affected. He urged…
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