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(birds chirping)
operator (over phone): Hello, this is a free call from
an inmate at
Denver Sheriff's Department County Jail.
This call is subject to recording and monitoring.
To accept this free call, press one.
- To refuse this free call-- - (phone beeps)
- prisoner (on phone): Hello? - Hi, this is Colorado Freedom Fund. How can I help you?
(prisoner 1 speaking)
Uh, Mr. McGee, I'm sorry to hear all that.
How much is your bond?
(Mr. McGee speaking)
Do you have a caseworker there at the jail
who's helping you or a social worker?
(Mr. McGee speaking)
- (birds chirping) - (dog barking)
Elisabeth Epps: Hey, good morning.
You said you might have someone from the Jefferson County Jail?
(Eva speaking on phone)
Elisabeth: Okay.
(Eva speaking)
Okay, so that's gonna be four for Denver,
one for El Paso with a-- with possibly one more?
- Eva (on phone): Yeah. - One for Arapahoe,
and one for Jefferson County? Okay.
(Eva speaking)
Elisabeth: I literally have two letters from her
sitting in my hand right now from the Denver jail.
Eva: Alright, love. Talk to ya. Bye.
Whoever this is calling from the Arapahoe jail at 8:42--
Somebody called at 7:01, but I missed it.
Man, I hope they call right back because they are
often not able to get out
and get another call through right away.
I'm gonna wait before hopping in the shower
because they usually call right back. (laughs)
There are more people in jails who are pretrial in America
than there were 40 years ago who were serving sentences.
We found new things to criminalize,
new offenses to make illegal,
new ways to put poor people
and immigrants and children in cages.
(indistinct muttering)
I've been arrested. Um, I've spent time in jail,
both pretrial and post conviction.
Went to law school.
I wanted to, like, have those tools and use them.
I saw folks who cannot pay their bail,
who are pleading guilty when they are innocent
just to get out of jail.
And the culmination of those things,
it almost seems like--
While it wasn't planned, if I'd know to think ahead,
I would've known that,
of course, in this year of my life,
I would be working and directing a bail fund.
(car engine struggles)
(car starts)
operator (over phone): Denver Sheriff's Department County Jail.
This call is subject to recording and monitoring.
To accept this free call, press one.
Elisabeth: Good morning. Colorado Freedom Fund.
(prisoner 2 speaking)
Elisabeth: Yeah, Mr. Chavez, if you could get it lowered
to 500, we'll pay it.
(Mr. Chavez speaking)
operator (on phone): An inmate at
Denver Sheriff's Department County Jail.
(prisoner 3 speaking)
How much is your bond?
(prisoner 3 speaking)
operator (on phone): This call is subject to recording and monitoring.
(prisoner 4 speaking)
Did they raise the bond?
We're gonna try, but I just--
$3,000 is more than we can usually pay in a case like this.
But, if you call back Monday, I'll let you know, okay?
You hang in there this weekend, okay?
operator (on phone): An inmate at
Denver Sheriff's Department County Jail.
(keys jingling)
Elisabeth: Cash bail, in theory, what it should be,
someone is accused of a crime,
the court can set an amount of money
that ensures the person comes back to court.
You come to court, you resolve your case,
you get your money back.
The result is that poor people
either sit in jail forever and ever,
or they plead guilty, just to be done with it.
That has nothing to do justice.
Has nothing to do with guilt or innocence.
All but one of these are letters from people in cages.
Everyone who we post bond for is legally innocent.
The only reason they're still in a cage
is because they can't afford to pay their bond.
This person wrote, "Freedom ain't free, but it's worth it."
This person, we're getting outta Jeff-Co.
This person, we're getting outta Denver.
We take in money from donations,
we use the money to pay for people's freedom.
When their case is resolved, we get the money back.
This is from Ms. Payne, who we are gonna get today.
Date, her name, her birth date.
She's 25. She's young.
Address is Motel 6.
"Dear Colorado Freedom Funds.
"Hello, this is Kiana Marie Payne writing.
"I wanted to thank you for all the help and support
"you have given out to us inmates.
"Here's my logistics.
"Three bonds preventing me from release.
"5,000, 5,000, and 1,000,
total $11,000."
Kiana Payne is smart, and she is resourceful,
um, and has also had a difficult couple of years.
And she reached out, and she needed help
with having her bond posted.
I remember one of the letters,
she'd gotten access to colored pencils
because she'd written the name, Colorado Freedom Fund
like in a sort of rainbow way.
And I don't know if she intended it to stand out,
but it did stand out in the pile of mail.
Once she got out,
she experienced some other challenges,
and she missed her court date.
And she was rearrested for missing court.
Um, didn't have new charges,
but what is unfortunately all too common
is the court reset her bond at a much higher amount.
- How've you been? - County Clerk: I've been good, how about you?
Elisabeth: Good. Okay, so not too many today.
Let's start with Ms. Payne.
- County Clerk: Alright. Alright. - (phone ringing)
inmate (singing): ♪ This jail's a joke ♪
♪ I swear, it's a joke ♪
(continues indistinctly)
Elisabeth: Don't think he enjoyed his stay.
I can't even remember what county it was,
but I was looking up directions. You know, so I googled the--
And, like, the first thing that comes up
was, like, Yelp reviews.
It was like, "I did not enjoy my time
at the Broomfield--" (laughs)
Like, if you have this sense of humor after that,
to go online to Yelp and review the jail,
they clearly didn't break your spirit.
- County Clerk: Well, I will give those back to you. Thank you. - Elisabeth: Thank you very much.
(phone ringing)
- Elisabeth: Thank you. - County Clerk: You're welcome! Have a good day!
You, too.
Elias Diggins: Cash bail has disproportionately put
people of color and poor people
in situations that have
gotten them deeper and deeper
into the criminal justice system.
When you come to jail, it's only gonna take about 72 hours
before your life really begins to change.
You stop showing up to work.
Your company or your boss
is not going to hold your job likely for a while.
So then, you get outta jail, and you don't have a job.
Right? So then, you have to figure out a way
to feed yourself, feed your family.
The hard part about that is you have folks
who have entered the criminal justice system
with very small or minor infractions,
who then get into that circle.
(quiet room chatter)
Elisabeth: When folks are out of custody while they're pretrial,
it means that they don't have to plead guilty
just to get out of jail.
They can retain housing. They can keep jobs.
Their family relationships aren't fractured,
to even pets and plants, things that people can't care for
while they're in cages.
- (door shuts) - Ms. Payne?
- Kiana Payne: Yes. - Elisabeth: I have your letters.
Kiana: Oh, my God.
That is so amazing. (chuckles) Thank you.
Elisabeth: Two of them, I actually just got
when I went to my office this morning. So, I'ma keep 'em,
but I did want you to know we got 'em.
- Kiana: Okay. - Elisabeth: Um, what do you need first?
- Kiana: Um, my stuff is outside. - Elisabeth: Okay.
Thank you, sirs! Have a good night.
Let's get you some food and put that sweater on you.
- Kiana: Okay. - (wind blowing)
Elisabeth: This wind just comes in here outta nowhere.
Kiana: It definitely feels a lot better than the air inside.
Elisabeth: Ah. Thanks for putting it in perspective.
Kiana: Well, you know in there, they tell us,
"If you were ever homeless, this is much better than that."
- And they try to-- - Elisabeth: Do they-- Someone has said that?
Kiana: Oh, most of them do.
"Three meals a day, a shower.
Must be good in here." That's what they say.
Elisabeth: I'll just bite my tongue on that one.
- Let's feed you. Okay. - Kiana: Okay.
Kiana: Getting out, it's almost unreal.
Elisabeth: So, how long were you in?
Kiana: I've been in-- Let's see. Since September 10.
Elisabeth: So, nine weeks.
(phone dialing)
- speaker (on phone): Hello? - Kiana: Hello, Mom.
Kiana's Mom: Hey, Kiana. What's going on?
Kiana: The Colorado Freedom Fund gave me grace
and helped me get out of jail today.
Kiana's Mom: Alright, good.
Kiana: I'm on pretrial release. And so right now,
we're on our way to get a little bit of food
and then Motel 6. That's where I'll be staying.
Kiana's Mom: Okay, you stay in the hotel.
- Don't go out. Just stay there. - I will.
- Kiana's Mom: Alright. Okay, bye-bye. - Bye.
- Thank you very much. - Elisabeth: You're welcome.
Kiana: Hearing the news that I was getting out
was all I needed to hear.
And the fact that I was sexually assaulted...
- Elisabeth: Oh, my God, babe. - Kiana: ...at the county jail.
Elisabeth: (sighs) I'm sorry that I didn't get there sooner.
Kiana: (sighs) It's okay. You know, one of the girls
asked me, uh, to do some drugs.
I said no, but I told her, "Hey, look,
"I'm not really looking to tell on you guys.
You know, I'm doing my time, okay? I'm just sitting here."
- Elisabeth: Right. - Kiana: So-- But, they started singling me out.
So, they decided to take me out and put me
by myself in medical.
That's when the sexual assault happened...
Elisabeth: Oh, my God, I'm so sorry.
Kiana: ...a few nights later.
attendant: Sorry about the wait tonight.
Elisabeth: Um, can I get a number one, please?
- attendant: Okay, you got it. And for you? - Can I get a shake?
A strawberry shake?
- A strawberry shake. - attendant: Small or large?
Kiana: Large. With whipped cream, please.
- attendant: With, with what? - Whipped cream.
attendant: Of course!
- Alright. Thank you. - (indistinct chatter)
I'm gonna get you checked in. And then,
- why don't we pick a time tomorrow that-- - Kiana: Yeah.
- We can meet? - Um, yeah, we can probably-- Let me see.
Kiana: I can come to you guys, if you need.
- Didn't you just tell her you not leaving?! - Kiana: (laughs) Oh, yeah.
Elisabeth: 'Cause you-- On like-- Jokes aside,
- you-- Like, seriously. All seriousness, you realize... - Yeah.
...if you get picked up, they're gonna set your bond so high
- that we can't pay it. - Okay.
Elisabeth: So let's just not even give them that option, okay?
- Yes. - Elisabeth: So, we're gonna get you checked in,
um, make sure you have my number,
and we'll set a time that we'll catch up tomorrow, okay?
- Kiana: Okay. - Okay.
Ooh, this wind!
I spend a lot of time thinking about this work
and thinking about what I'm not doing enough of.
When I'm looking at a jail roster,
and I'm seeing how many people we got out,
all I can really see is how many people are still in.
How many letters we get that I-I can't help the person,
their bond is too high, or they're serving a sentence,
or for some other reason.
And the letters often,
you know, they come addressed to me,
and they all say, "Dear Ms. Elisabeth," you know.
And the letters are often full of really difficult stories.
We're coming into a holiday season,
and I get really overwhelmed thinking about
who's not gonna be home for Thanksgiving
and who's not gonna be home for Christmas
because of the existence of cash bail
and the existence of these cages.
I'm working really hard to translate that
into motivation to keep going,
and think about how we're gonna get to the place
where we're ending cash bail in Colorado.
(Legos rattling)
(Legos clicking)
(insects chirping)
(breeze blowing)
I can't remember the first interaction I had
with a police officer or with policing,
but I certainly remember interactions
from a very young age.
They were gonna be taking a parent to a cage
or to prison. And I wasn't in trouble,
but they were discussing where would I go.
They've been painful interactions all the way up
and until recently.
- Okay if I touch you? - speaker: Yep.
Elisabeth: Okay, so where are you-- where can I take you?
September 2015.
This was Beyonce's birthday weekend,
and that's a holiday in my household. (laughs)
Also known as Labor Day, but, uh,
celebrated Beyonce's birthday weekend with my girlfriend,
and we were at a pool party.
And there was a young man across the pool
who was having some serious trouble.
He was visibly very distressed.
There's a man who's clearly having a mental incident.
I said to my girlfriend let's at least check on the kid.
I'm getting my keys.
Everything was okay and improving.
And then, the police came.
No one needed them.
Stay still. So look at me, Cody. She's gonna give me my keys.
We'll drive you back over there,
see if you can get into the house--
officer 1: We're actually stopping right here. We're not doing--
We're not gonna continue walking around here.
officer 2: Are you using this pool without somebody's permission?
Elisabeth: Are you really, like, are you really-- you--
There's no crime in Aurora for you to go deal with?
officer 2: There's plenty of crime, but this is what I'm here for.
- officer 3: This is your last chance. - Elisabeth: Sir-- To do what?
officer 3: To leave the property.
Elisabeth: And you're-- I'm invited here!
- officer 3: Leave the property. - Elisabeth: I'm an invited guest!
The next thing I know,
I'm being pushed up against a fence.
Take your hands off of me! Take your hands off of me!
- officer 1: Look-- - Let me get my things!
I do not want to be here! I wanted to check on that man!
I get handcuffed,
and charged with interfering with an investigation,
obstruction, trespass. Of course, resisting arrest.
They always add that in.
(tense music playing)
(indistinct shouting)
I was sentenced to 30 to 90 days.
I did get credit for good behavior,
as they call it. And so, I was able to get out
after a couple weeks.
And it was still hell. It was still hell
even though there was an end in sight for me.
And, um, I got to know the women who were in my unit,
and I was aware of what they were accused of.
None of them needed to be there.
None of them, the behavior that they were dealing with
that landed them there was fixed by jail.
While I was an abolitionist already,
certainly that experience in that jail
deepened my commitment to it.
I'm here at the Arapaho cage.
You can see it behind me.
That's actually the entrance to where I was caged.
I'm just leaving the jail.
Um, the bonding office where we
spent $1,020 to buy freedom
for two of our neighbors.
I'm just feeling really heavy
because all the women in my pod, 2B,
which is where I was caged until earlier this month,
um, they're all still there.
So, it is 9:30 p.m.
in lovely greater Denver, Colorado,
- I am outside the jail. - (wind blowing)
It's raining sleet, snowing,
and I'm headed back into the jail
to pay $510 and $210
for two neighbors' freedom.
So, the bonds this morning are four for 500,
100, and two $50 tickets
It's Christmas night.
We have colleagues who are posting tonight in Jeff-Co.
I'm headed to Arapahoe and for one out of Inglewood.
I am here at the Arapahoe County cage.
So, we're leaving the Denver jail.
We have paid the bond at the Aurora jail.
What we do is buy people's freedom,
including people who have been over-policed
and harassed by local cops.
What you not gonna do is try and tell me
I'm misrepresenting what I'm fucking living.
It's really cold, and I really have no time
for mansplaining in this bitch.
- (door creaks) - (keys jingle)
Elias: I remember when they first began,
they only had a couple thousand dollars
in the Colorado Freedom Fund.
That began to grow
incrementally, small growth.
But, when George Floyd happened,
the way that it grew was phenomenal.
They raised, I believe it was over
$1.2 million.
It is our duty to fight for our freedom!
crowd: It is our duty to fight for our freedom!
It is our duty to win!
crowd: It is our duty to win!
- We must love each other! - crowd: We must love each other!
- Elisabeth: Support each other! - crowd: Support each other!
Elisabeth: We have nothing to lose but our chains!
crowd: We have nothing to lose--
Elisabeth: The world learned about Breonna Taylor
and George Floyd,
and there was this mass influx
in cities around the country of protesters being arrested.
We must love each other!
protester: Denver, Colorado, June 1st.
Day four, round four.
(protestors shouting)
Elisabeth: People saw what was happening and wanting to help,
and also recognizing that these aren't just arrests
were happening to people who were protesting
another injustice.
Elias: I recall seeing Elisabeth on TV,
out in front of those protests and leading them.
And then, it was like a day later,
I was walking out into the lobby,
and it was around maybe closer to midnight.
And I saw Elisabeth in the lobby,
and she's out there,
paying someone's bond.
In fact, there are, like, five bonds
that she had that she was
doing her Elisabeth magic, right? Just...
- She moves in-in a fast way. - (snapping)
And so, she's saying, "Alright,
this is the money for this one, this one, this one."
And I go out there. I'm like, "Hey, how you doing?"
She's like, "Oh, I'm fine." She said,
"But lemme show you something." And so,
she showed me where she had been shot
with a rubber bullet.
And I just recall thinking Elisabeth is out,
leading these protests during the day.
But then at night, she's in here,
still getting people out of jail.
- (phone dialing) - (paper crinkling)
- Elias (on phone): What's up, abolitionist? - (laughs) What's up, Sheriff?
I'm ready for you to be the first
openly abolitionist sheriff in the country.
Elias: Oh, yeah? (laughs)
I'd be happy to-to wear some of that.
- We gotta figure this out. - (laughing) Okay.
Well, y'all still got people in that cage, sir. (laughs)
Elias: C'mon, now. I know, I know.
I appreciate you saying that. I do.
You know I think your job shouldn't exist.
But, until-until, we get rid of it as a, as a position...
Elias: (laughs) I understand that.
...um, I don't mind you being the person in it
while it does still exist. I appreciate you.
As an abolitionist, I'm comfortable being upfront
with the fact that, like, my goal, (laughs)
is for prisons to not exist.
But, far more importantly, at its core,
abolition is the work of building.
It's the work of creation, right?
So, we're working to create communities
where people have clean air and clean water
and safe schools that are free of policing,
and places for rest and play and worship.
And, you know, because we know
that when communities have these things,
they don't need cages.
I do not believe in Defund The Police.
I do not believe that we can exist without jails,
uh, in America, or prisons, either.
And so, I think those are places
where Elisabeth and I probably have
different ideas about the criminal justice system.
Because it's bigger than just the criminal justice system.
The Black community
and other communities of color as well,
we are in a state of crisis.
Absolutely.
Elias: And if we don't get it together,
then our children, our grandchildren,
and our grandchildren's children
- are gonna be in even, in an even worse place. - (call waiting beeps)
- So, we got to do the work. - (beeping)
Well, you know I agree, and I appreciate you, sir.
and I'm actually getting a call right now
- from inside that cage, so... - (beeping)
- Elias: Alright. Go to work. See you later. - Okay.
Appreciate you. Talk to you soon. Bye-bye.
- Elias: Bye. - speaker (on phone): Hello?
Hi, good afternoon. This is the Colorado Freedom Fund.
How can I help you?
(caller speaking)
Okay, so in the past, your bonds were $1...
fi... $1, $100, $250.
So, those were things that we could pretty easily pay.
With this $10,000 bond,
we're not gonna be able to post those right now.
(caller speaking)
Elisabeth: Okay, good luck, sir. Bye-bye.
We can't save our folks one by one.
We have to have deep systemic change,
and policy change.
And we know we've done our work
when we're shutting our doors.
Brother Jeff: Elisabeth, I know you never saw yourself
running for political office.
You've always fought from the outside.
What drove you to say, "You know what?
"I'm gonna get in, um, and be on the inside,
"and all of the folks that I've spoke to,
they're gonna be speaking to me?"
Elisabeth: Folks asked me to, and that's a humbling, honorable thing.
When we as community,
it's not just elect one of our own,
but when we select one of our own,
we know who we're getting.
Um, folks asked,
and they asked because it's time
for truly principled progressive leadership.
There are progressives at our capitol.
We are running to join them,
and we are asking you to help us cultivate and mentor
the next class of people who's gonna help us.
The issue that keeps me up at night,
these new bags I got under my eyes is community safety.
I'ma give you this.
I know I gave her my card, but I know she works a lot.
I know that we have to, and we can,
invest in the things that actually keep victims safe,
and not just reduction work after the fact.
(knocking)
From the moment that I filed to run,
the most common question I got
from reporters and from other folks and communities,
"Do you think Denver is ready for an abolitionist?"
We'll see on Election Day.
(birds chirping)
- We won! We won! - (people cheering)
We won! We did it! We did it!
(crowd cheering, indistinct chanting)
(clapping, cheering)
- So, how y'all doin'? - (laughter)
(cheering)
host (on speakers): We've extended a standing invitation to Elisabeth
to speak to you as future legislator
about her plans for the upcoming session.
(applause, cheering)
Elisabeth: There are 100 legislative districts in Colorado.
I live in one of the bluest,
and our whole race was the primary.
Whoever wins the primary wins.
You can go ahead and start printing the business cards.
I'm Representative Elisabeth Epps.
One thing about me,
I'ma be straight with you and be real
because I'm gonna be your state rep
for the next eight years.
I care about a lot of things,
but I'm not gonna hide the ball.
I really, really care
about ending wealth-based detention in Colorado,
ending the criminalization of poverty.
And for me, that has a particular attachment
in cash bail.
Everyone ready to end cash bail in 2027?
(crowd cheering)
Lets. We can do lots of good things in between, so...
(applause)
(reception chatter)
My ability to step into this natural progression
of my own work, the natural evolution
of my commitment to abolition,
as now an abolitionist in the statehouse,
with the resources of state government
available to me to craft good policy,
to run good bills,
that is a gift that I had not anticipated.
- (birds chirping) - (phone dialing)
(phone dialing)
voicemail (on phone): Your call has been forwarded
to an automated voice message system.
Elisabeth: I think about Kiana Payne a lot.
Kiana is back in a cage.
I wish I could say that this is the last time
she will be in a cage. I hope it is.
But until and unless we change certain systemic things,
and we are going to,
then it's certain that she'll keep coming back,
but she doesn't have to. She's not dangerous.
When we are investing in things
that keep people out of jails,
we obviate the need for arrest,
and it opens up the possibility of ending cash bail
and doing the thing that's next.
Because liberation is not a zero-sum game.
I get more free,
and my people get well, you get okay, too.
(poignant music playing)
(music fades out)