Shannan Wise of Baltimore had never been arrested before. A single mother of two, she was busy juggling her family, her job as a driver for a private van service, seasonal work at Target and going to school to become a medical biller. But on Oct. 24 of last year, Wise, 26, had a fight with her younger sister, who has mental disabilities. The next day, Wise dropped off her kids, ages 2 and 5, at day care and school. When she got home, she found the police waiting with a warrant for her arrest. Her sister had filed a false police report against her for assault. A judge set bail at $35,000, which was increased to $100,000 at a bail review hearing because—based on the allegations against her—the judge believed Wise was dangerous. Wise didn’t have that kind of money. Her family scraped together a down payment to a bail bond company, but it took five days. During that time, her kids had to be shuttled between their father and another of her sisters.

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The U.S. Department of Justice sent a “dear colleague letter” on March 14, 2016, warning state and local courts about constitutional concerns regarding fees and fines imposed on poor defendants. Concurrent with the dissemination of the letter, the first meeting of a National Task Force to study the issue and eventually make recommendations to the states regarding reforms took place in Arlington, Virginia.

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