Minnesota Freedom Fund

Minnesota Freedom Fund fights to end oppressive, discriminatory, and coercive jailing. We envision a Minnesota where justice restores the humanity and dignity of all involved, and everyone has access to resources to lead healthy and full lives.

Since receiving an outpouring of support following the murder of George Floyd, we’ve spent $26.4 million to free 3,444 people from pre-trial jailing and immigration detention. We’re proud of that impact. But the reality is, for every person who was released because we paid their bail or immigration bond, another person was booked into that same cell. And as we increased the scale of our support, we simultaneously poured more money into the oppressive cash bail and immigration detention systems. 

We've realized that paying bail for individuals is only a band-aid fix for the deep injustice of oppressive, discriminatory, and coercive jailing — and we cannot continue to resource the same system we are working to overturn.

Working toward lasting freedom and large-scale decarceration means investing in systemic transformation.

How your gift will help drive systemic change

To create such systemic transformation, we've identified three high-impact areas for investment and intervention. 

• We will free the people by fighting for policy changes that will end cash bail, eliminate the harms of immigration detention, and ensure people returning home from jails and prisons have what they need to be healthy, safe, and stable.
• We will free the courts by pushing for judicial diversity and accountability, supporting transparency in courtrooms, and piloting programs to provide support to DACA recipients and people seeking clemency and pardons, sentence reductions, and relief from unjust, inhumane jail and prison practices.
• We will free the vote by educating our neighbors and building relationships in historically disenfranchised communities, so that when opportunity for systemic transformation knocks, we have key allies in positions to make and support change.

In particular, this year we'll use your generous donation to support our Court Watch Program, a community-rooted, volunteer-driven initiative that brings the public into courtrooms to observe and document bail hearings. The program promotes four main goals: 

• Education: Raising public awareness about the justice system by training community members to understand court proceedings and their impacts.
• Transparency and Accountability: Creating transparency and accountability through systematic observation and documentation of judicial practices.
• Movement Building: Mobilizing communities to advocate for systemic reform through firsthand observations.
• Data Collection: Gathering evidence on pretrial detention practices to inform policy advocacy.

In addition to donating, we'd welcome you to help make a difference by volunteering to join us for a 2-hour shift on our Court Watch team. You'll see the justice system up close, gain real experience, and help create change! Plus, we make volunteering easy by providing free Lyfts to and from the courthouse and all the training you’ll need. No prior experience required — and you’ll always have a shift lead with you, so you’ll never be alone. To learn more, click here.