A BLM Bail Fund Is Freeing Heinous Criminals in Kentucky. Now, the GOP Has a Plan To Stop It.

In Kentucky, a Black Lives Matter bail fund has paid to release violent rapists, murderers, and even a would-be political assassin. Now, Republicans in the state are moving to rein in the practice.

Kentucky legislators Jason Nemes and John Blanton are behind the effort. The Republicans are pushing two bills that would forbid bail funds from paying to release certain arrestees and allow judges to deny bail for particularly heinous criminals. The move comes just days after a Louisville bail fund paid $100,000 to free Quintez Brown, a prominent liberal activist who is charged with attempting to murder Jewish Democratic mayoral hopeful Craig Greenberg in his campaign office.

Under Kentucky law, judges are barred from denying bail in all cases other than capital murder. As a result, even heinous repeat offenders who pose a significant risk to their communities can secure their release from prison if they procure enough cash. In the past, that fundraising burden would typically fall on the offender and his or her family and friends. The recent explosion of groups such as the Louisville Community Bail Fund, however, has turned the state's bail process on its head.

Thanks to support from some of the biggest names in national Democratic politics, the Louisville Community Bail Fund—which is tied to the city's Black Lives Matter chapter—has raised millions of dollars since its inception in 2019 to secure the release of local arrestees. But the group is hardly focused on low-level offenders. Since the summer of 2020, the fund has bailed out dozens of repeat criminals accused of reprehensible crimes.