The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness decries D.C. Cash Bail Reform Act
The Washington-based advocacy office also opposes legislation that threatens to undermine police accountability reforms
LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness is urging the public to mobilize against federal legislation that would “place a price on human liberty” and roll back criminal justice reforms in Washington, D.C.
A recent Action Alert from the D.C.-based advocacy office highlights the potential harm of H.R. 5214, the District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025, and H.R. 5107, which poses a threat to the district’s 2022 police accountability reforms.
The so-called public safety measures would actually “undermine D.C.’s right to self-govern, disproportionately harm Black, poor and marginalized communities and weaken democratic principles the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has long upheld,” according to the Action Alert.
Both bills already have been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, but Presbyterians can make a difference by contacting members of the Senate, the Action Alert notes.
H.R. 5214 would require mandatory pretrial and post-conviction detention for crimes of violence and dangerous crimes and require mandatory cash bail for certain offenses that pose a threat to public safety or order in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, according to the legislation.
However, the Action Alert argues that “restoring cash bail would place a price on human liberty” and notes that the PC(USA) General Assembly has condemned cash bail as a system that effectively criminalizes poverty, traps people in cycles of debt and detention and denies the poor equal access to justice.
In 2018, during the 223rd General Assembly, several hundred Presbyterians and fellow advocates took to the streets of St. Louis for a march, calling for the elimination of cash bail, according to the Action Alert. A similar event was held in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, the following year, when more than 250 Presbyterians and friends marched and pleaded for an end to the cash bail system.
Action is needed today because “as people called to seek God’s justice, we cannot support or legitimize policies that inflict harm on our neighbors,” the 2025 Action Alert notes. “We must remain steadfast in our commitment to help build a society where every person can flourish, a commitment rooted in the hope, courage and long-standing social witness of the PC(USA).”
H.R. 5107 is designed to repeal the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 enacted by the District of Columbia Council. Repealing that act would “undo police accountability measures designed to protect communities that have endured generations of racial inequity, state violence and over-policing concerns,” the Action Alert states.
Furthermore, “rolling back the district’s transparency measures, such as body-worn camera requirements and limits on masked officers, would erode essential public accountability,” the Alert notes.
The Office of Public Witness urges concerned Presbyterians to resist both pieces of legislation, stating, “Now is the time to raise our collective moral voice. Join with faith leaders across the nation to tell Congress to oppose H.R. 5214 and H.R. 5107.”
Read the full Action Alert and make your voice heard by going here.
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