OMAHA- Yesterday, the ACLU of Nebraska released a study suggesting that recent state legislative reforms have failed to halt modern-day 'debtors' prisons.' To conduct the study, the ACLU tracked over 2,300 bail and sentencing hearings in Douglas and Lancaster Counties, and gauged how judges treated financially struggling Nebraskans.

In 2017, Nebraska legislators created a law that calls for judges to "consider all methods of bond and conditions of release to avoid pretrial incarceration," but Mindy Ruch Chipman, the ACLU's legal director, found that "systemic disregard of laws" still remains in the state. Chipman went on to state that beneficial changes can and will be implemented, but some may take time, lobbying, and legislative work.

"We're not going to rest until freedom does not rely on how much money we currently have or have access to," said Chipman. The report stated also that Nebraska's Constitution, which guarantees broad pretrial liberties, can be restricted in certain circumstances to allow for excessive bail or pretrial detention. The report recommended that Nebraska lawmakers create "bench cards," which can be given to judges as a reminder of the laws and the state's bail-setting options.

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