The Bail Project: Committed to Making our Communities Less Safe One Victim at a Time

The Bail Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating cash bail, has invested over $91 million since its inception (as reported in their 2024 annual report) to help more than 35,000 individuals secure release while awaiting trial. They highlight high court appearance rates (around 92-93%) and argue that pretrial freedom benefits communities, with serious re-offenses being rare and comparable across all release types.  I seriously question both of those claims.  When people accused of a crime are released from jail with no financial incentive to appear in court or accountability to the person/entity that released them, I have a hard time believing that they will just show up for court.  That not only goes against my own personal experience, but more importantly, common sense.  But then again, it is the Bail Project providing the data, why would I expect anything else.

As a victim advocate who focuses on the voices and safety of those harmed by violence, I must highlight the devastating human cost that organizations like the Bail Project inflict on our communities.  When they employ their careless approach to pretrial release, it fails to account for genuine risks to public safety. Several documented cases show individuals released with The Bail Project's assistance who went on to commit murders—tragedies that left families shattered and raised serious questions about whether the organization's mission sometimes overlooks warning signs, prior histories, or direct pleas from those who know the defendants best.  A recent article in the NY Post, “The Bail Project spent $91M freeing criminal suspects, including some who later committed murder,” outlines some of these horrible cases.  Here are some key examples:

• Donnie Allen (Cleveland, December 2025): Allen had a long criminal history including burglary, assault on officers, and recent charges for drug possession, breaking and entering, and more at a rail station. His family explicitly warned The Bail Project against posting his $500 bail (after a judge reduced it to $5,000), stating he would reoffend without help and needed incarceration or treatment. The organization proceeded anyway. Just five days after release, Allen allegedly murdered 27-year-old Benjamin McComas at a Cleveland rail station. Family members expressed heartbreak, believing the death could have been prevented if their concerns had been heeded. McComas was an innocent person going about his day, and his loss is irreversible.
• Travis Lang (Indianapolis, 2021): Lang faced multiple felony charges including possession of cocaine, breaking and entering, resisting arrest, and burglary when The Bail Project contributed over $5,650 toward his release in January 2021. Months later, in October 2021, he shot and killed 24-year-old Dylan McGinnis. McGinnis was a kind young man who was simply supporting a friend during a difficult situation. Lang was later convicted of murder. McGinnis's mother, Nikki Sterling, has spoken publicly about her son's compassionate nature and pursued a wrongful death lawsuit against The Bail Project, underscoring the preventable grief inflicted on victims' families.
• Samuel Lee Scott (St. Louis, 2019): Scott was jailed for misdemeanor domestic assault after allegedly hitting and threatening his 54-year-old wife, Marcia Johnson. The Bail Project posted his $5,000 bail. Hours after release, he brutally beat Johnson, leaving her with a broken eye socket, multiple broken ribs, bruises everywhere, and unconscious. She died shortly after from her injuries. Scott was convicted of first-degree murder in 2022 and sentenced to life without parole. This was a clear escalation of domestic violence, where the victim's life ended tragically soon after the organization's intervention. The Bail Project expressed sadness but deflected responsibility, noting wealthier individuals could have bailed out similarly—yet that doesn't erase the outcome for Johnson and her loved ones.
• Marcus Garvin (Indianapolis, 2021): Garvin faced battery charges after allegedly stabbing a customer at a convenience store. His bond was reduced to $1,500 (with GPS monitoring ordered), which The Bail Project paid. While free, he stabbed his 30-year-old girlfriend, Christie Holt, to death in July 2021—inflicting 51 wounds, attempting to dismember her body, and dumping it near a motel. He later pleaded guilty to murder and received a 45-year sentence. Holt's family has expressed profound betrayal and pain over the plea deal and the circumstances of her release-enabled killing.

These cases illustrate a painful pattern: defendants with violent histories or domestic abuse charges were released pretrial through The Bail Project's efforts.  There was no concern for the previous victims that these individuals harmed and no concern for what these people might do to others if released from jail for free by the Bail Project.  It is dangerous and it is irresponsible. Victims like Benjamin McComas, Dylan McGinnis, Marcia Johnson, and Christie Holt were not statistics—they were sons, daughters, partners, and community members whose lives were cut short. Their families continue to live with unimaginable loss, often feeling that red flags (criminal records, family warnings, or patterns of violence) were not adequately weighed against the goal of bail reform.

While The Bail Project condemns violence and points to overall low rates of serious reoffending, the evidence in our communities tells a different story.   From my standpoint, a victim advocate's standpoint, even a "rare" case of violence from someone released under the guise of charity, is unacceptable when they result in preventable deaths. Public safety and accountability must be prioritized in the criminal justice system. No amount of good intentions, or anti bail rhetoric, excuses the failure to protect innocent people from foreseeable harm. 

We owe it to victims and survivors to demand accountability from these misguided and dangerous organizations that intervene in pretrial release, ensuring that compassion for the accused does not come at the expense of community safety and the right to live free from violence.