The Bronx Freedom Fund

The Bronx Freedom Fund is a nonprofit bail fund located in the South Bronx. The first charitable bail organization in New York State, it provides bail assistance to indigent defendants facing pretrial detention for low-level and misdemeanor charges. It was founded by David Feige, a producer, writer, and law professor, and Robin Steinberg, the founder and chief executive of The Bronx Defenders. Its first grant came from the CEO of Lava Records, Jason Flom, and the Flom Family Foundation.

The Bronx Freedom Fund bailed out nearly 200 people from 2007 to 2009. It closed its doors in 2009 after Judge Ralph Fabrizio ruled that it was an uninsured bail-bond business. Its co-founders, along with state senator Gustavo Rivera and then-assemblymen Phil Boyle, drafted a set of amendments allowing for a charitable exemption to the bail and insurance laws. The bill, sponsored by Senator Rivera, passed unanimously through both chambers of the state legislature in 2011. It was vetoed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and a revised bill passed in 2012. The Bronx Freedom Fund reopened its doors and bailed out approximately 300 people from 2013 to 2015.

In 2015, The Bronx Freedom Fund began a substantial expansion, raising additional funds, hiring new bail associates and significantly increasing it's capacity, including expanding operations into other boroughs. Currently, the Freedom Fund is on track to bail out over 1,000 people per year. Also in 2015, the organization was awarded the National Criminal Justice Association's Outstanding Criminal Justice Program Award for the Northeast Region.

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