A Surprising History of “Jail, No Bail”

Today’s activists know what those in the Black freedom movement knew: Jail, No Bail was a critique of not just bail, but of an entire system of unjust laws and courts. Then and now, activists understand that power concedes nothing–not desegregation, not pre-trial freedom—without a fight.

Say Burgin

March 26, 2026

15–23 minutes

20th Century, Carceral studies, Civil Rights Movement, Freedom Rides, jail history, jail no bail, Martin Luther King Jr., Sit-ins, US history

Author

Written by

Say Burgin

I’m a historian of the 20th century US focusing on social movement and African American history, working as associate professor of history and steering committee member for Africana Studies at Dickinson College. My first book, Organizing Your Own: The White Fight for Black Power in Detroit, was published by New York University Press in 2024. It provides a new way of understanding the Black Power movement’s relationship to white America. My other publications appear in the Journal of Civil and Human Rights, Women’s History Review, the Journal of American Studies, The Nation, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. I have helped to develop numerous lesson plans and open-platform materials that allow educators to teach the fuller, more radical history of Rosa Parks and the Black freedom movement. Follow me on Bluesky @sayburgin.bsky.social.

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