Black Codes | The National Bail Out Network

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I had the honor of working with the non profit organization, National Bail Out Network for the purpose of creating a series of GIFs illustrating the so called "Black Codes of Bail".

The Black Codes of Bail are policies and practices associated with pretrial detention that trap people in the criminal legal system, exploit them economically, condemn them to debt, attempt to control their movement and interaction with family and loved ones, or make them vulnerable to further criminalization.

Much like the Black Codes passed in the aftermath of the Civil War, which were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of Black people and to ensure their continued economic exploitation and social degradation, Black Codes of Bail limit the freedom of Black communities and make them vulnerable to state control and exploitation.

Following the Civil-War political leaders throughout the country enacted laws intended to maintain white power and to continue the economic exploitation and social control of Black communities. The Black Codes, as these laws came to be known, rendered the promise of freedom and liberation obsolete and resulted in the incarceration of millions of Black people, changing the hue of prison populations from white to Black almost overnight and shifting the use of the carceral system to one aimed at racially based social control. Black Codes instilled fear and constrained the ability of Black people to create prosperous and safe futures for themselves and their families. Politicians and white businesses created these laws to continue the exploitation and control of Black people. Although many Black Codes were legally repealed, they have been reincarnated in the contemporary criminal legal system including in pretrial practices and policies.