One of the more noteworthy political shifts of recent years is the degree to which prison reform has become a cause for conservatives. After decades of bellicose rhetoric on law-and-order issues, many on the political right have turned their attentions toward better conditions of confinement, reducing the number of those confined and improving social reintegration for the formally incarcerated. The result: States that have taken on criminal justice reform have built fewer prisons, cut spending and, most importantly, lowered crime.

Now, the time has come to build on that record of success by tackling jail reform. Of the 650,000 individuals in local jails throughout the country, 450,000 are awaiting trial — that is, innocent until proven guilty. Jailing so many individuals — many simply because they cannot afford bail — offends the most basic principles of conservatism: limited government, fiscal responsibility and, perhaps most importantly, the sense that government policy should reflect our most basic moral values. Indeed, the official Republican platform uses the word “moral” nine times.