On the way to the football yesterday I listened to an older Planet Money episode (there is an update from now at the end of the podcast) on how New Jersey looked at bail reform.

The whole focus is on the person granted (or would be granted bail) and their circumstances – it is fascinating. Data, algorithms and therefore rules become involved. Lower prisoner numbers were floated as an outcome – but what effect suddenly stripping a system of all that money, how the system feeds into an industry? It’s fascinating stuff.

Half an hour, and give yourself a little timer afterwards to do some further digging on the internet afterwards.

And at the least you might learn – like I did – the difference between ‘jail’ and ‘prison’.

Listen to the podcast on the NPR Planet Money website.


This post tagged with:
podcast, Planet Money, bail, service design