Free the 350 Bail Fund aims to directly undermine modern day slavery disguised as the so-called justice system. We free people from the Dane County Jail in Wisconsin – prioritizing Black people, especially Black women, queer folks, youth, and caregivers – due to the vast racial disparities present in the Dane County jail, and the over-policing of Black people in our community. We do this because we believe that jail is an inhumane and unjust intervention and it makes us less safe as a community and as a society.
The “350” refers to the 350 Black people who would need to be released from Dane County jail, on a typical day, in order to eliminate the jail’s racial disparities.
The Bail Fund is fueled by a dedicated team of revolutionary volunteers who are determined to destroy the deeply anti-black incarceration system. Since 2017 we have bailed out over 200 Black people in Dane County and in 2020, we bailed out every Black woman in the Dane County Jail. This included Kenyairra Gadson, a Black Queer woman who was jailed for surviving patriarchal violence.
We will be pausing bailouts for the remainder of 2023. We are in the midst of a restructuring process aimed at maximizing our volunteer capacity and amplifying our impact. Our people are not forgotten and we are strategizing to destroy the carceral system in 2024 and beyond.