Authors
David Gaspar is the CEO of The Bail Project, where he has played a key role since 2019 in building mission-driven teams and systems that center care, consistency, and impact. He began as a Bail Disruptor and quickly rose through the ranks, driven by a deep commitment to justice and operational excellence.Before entering the nonprofit sector, David spent over a decade leading warehouse and distribution operations for a multimillion-dollar company based in Seattle. He oversaw large-scale teams and logistics, led major growth efforts, and launched a hiring program for system-impacted individuals.David holds a Master’s in Adult Education and a Bachelor’s in Business, grounding his leadership in both strategic insight and a deep understanding of how people learn and thrive.Throughout his career, he has remained focused on supporting those impacted by the legal system. His work is rooted in his personal experience and the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to find their purpose and power. Proud of his Mexican American heritage, David is a husband, father of five, and grandfather. His work with The Bail Project reflects his commitment to creating a future where a more just system is possible.
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September 1, 2025
The New York Times
One Concrete Way to Make the Justice System Fairer
President Trump recently declared that bail reform is contributing to a public safety “emergency” in Washington and issued two executive orders that seek to halt decades of work to build a safer and fairer pretrial system. One of the orders singles out the District of Columbia for moving away from the system known as cash bail, in which a person must pay money to be released from jail before trial, even when their guilt hasn’t been determined — which is to say that a person’s freedom before trial depends on how much money he has.
The second directive calls on the Department of Justice to identify states and jurisdictions with similar policies, with an eye toward penalizing them through funding restrictions. Mr. Trump has also signaled that he wants congressional leaders to advance legislation that would eliminate cashless bail nationwide.
Not so long ago, there seemed to be a growing understanding in this country that a justice system that trades in cash for freedom benefits no one. Editorial boards, celebrities and lawmakers rallied behind bail reform. States including New York, New Jersey and Illinois rewrote their laws. Local prosecutors won elections promising to end cash bail.
Organizations like the Bail Project, where we work, started paying bail for people who couldn’t afford it and established that cash bail is as unnecessary as it is harmful. The people we have helped have returned to court 93 percent of the time, without any of their money on the line. When people do miss court, it’s often for the reasons that anyone misses an appointment: difficulty getting time off from work, unreliable child care, transportation issues and unexpected illness or emergencies.
