Our community members lose many days of their life sitting in both Vermont and immigration jails simply because they cannot pay bail. Help us free them.
The Vermont Freedom Fund works with those detained and their legal counsel to provide the bail funds they need in order to be released.
“There are days of winds, days of fury and days of tears. But there are also days of love that give us the courage to carry on." — Victor Diaz, while incarcerated by ICE, April 2016
We are a volunteer run, 501(c)(3) tax-deductible fund that bails out our incarcerated community members in Vermont. Cash bail is an abuse of the criminal justice system, criminalizes poverty and has a disproportionate effect on Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, and immigrants. We believe that wealth should not determine who is kept in jail.
When a case is closed, the bail funds may be returned to the Vermont Freedom Fund through a complex process, enabling funds to be reused. However, we cannot count on the funds being returned for a variety of reasons. Those who benefit from the fund and stay in Vermont will be encouraged to promote the fund within their communities.