Trump Moves to Eliminate Cashless Bail. Could It Help Lower Crime?

President Trump signed a series of executive orders on Monday aimed at cracking down on crime, including one that seeks to eliminate cashless bail by reviewing funding for federal jurisdictions that continue to allow it. Media across the spectrum have disagreed on whether the order will be effective.

Key Quote: Trump said, “Cashless bail, we’re ending it. But we’re starting by ending it in DC, and that we have the right to do through federalization.”

For Context: Several states have moved away from cash bail in recent years, with Washington, DC serving as a pioneer. In 1992, the district eliminated its money bail system in favor of a judicial one. New York and New Jersey eliminated cash bail for many crimes in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail entirely in 2023.

From The Right: The New York Post’s Editorial Board (Right bias) called the move “good policy and better politics.” It wrote, “Above all, it nationalizes a debate that progressives would rather restrict to areas where they dominate, and so helps force them to defend these policies. Policies that tell criminals they’ll face no serious immediate consequences for their crimes.” The Post also added that after New York imposed cashless bail in 2020, “left-leaning New Yorkers blamed it for the crime surge by a margin of 64% to 24%.”

From The Left: The New York Times (Lean Left) published an analysis that in its subhead said, “Conservatives argue that policies limiting the practice have contributed to increased lawlessness, but the data does not support their argument.” The Times mentioned a 2024 report from the Brennan Center for Justice that compared 22 cities that changed bail laws to 11 that did not and found “no statistically significant relationship between bail reform and crime rates.” It also mentioned a 2024 study from Drexel University and Boston University that found there has been no increase in gun violence in New Jersey since the state reformed bail in 2017.

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