A group of Portland-based organizers working to reform the cash bail system facilitated the release of a new dad days before Father’s Day.

Police arrested Virgil Lee Adams on robbery and assault charges in February 2017. He was acquitted in August but remained in jail for other unrelated charges. He was incarcerated for a total of 16 months without a conviction before Portland Bail Out paid his $10,000 bail. He walked out of jail on June 7, and the 20-year-old is now on house arrest. His next court date is in September, and his legal trouble caused him to miss the birth of his son, Virgil Junior.

Portland Bail Out is one of many organizations dedicated to freeing people who don't have the resources to post bail.

"This case highlights the injustices of the cash bail system, a system that preys on people of color and the poor," Gina Spencer, founder of Portland Bail Out, told The Portland Mercury. "If we can help, then we will pay that bail. We have limited funds, so lower bail amounts are more accessible, but we can help."

Cameron Whitten, director of racial justice group Brown Hope, hopes Adams’ release will push an Oregon county District Attorney Rod Underhill to take steps in reforming the bail system.

"We demand justice for Virgil Adams, and we know this isn’t an isolated case," said Whitten. "There are a ton of black, brown and poor people who are suffering from long-term detention within our jail system and the criminality of our cash bail system.”

Portland Bail Out assisted two women in May before Mother’s Day, but only one was released. The group is currently raising money to bail people out before Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the abolishment of slavery.

The organization seeks donations to its bail fund via GoFundMe.

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