BEAR: Building Essential Advocacy Resources – Dignity of Bail, Case Study 1: FREE SAM

BEAR’s Dignity of Bail program is an emerging effort in response to community need, so folks can fight their cases from a place of safety and dignity instead of from a cage in the courtroom.
With each Dignity of Bail case study, BEAR partners with people whose situations help us see systemic barriers more clearly such as collateral requirements, predatory bail fees, and the costs of pretrial survival.

We are following and fundraising in support of Sam: an Indigenous organizer grounded in ceremony and community work, from Alcatraz sunrise gatherings to local actions with flags, songs, and support for his people.[ See this article in COYOTE MEDIA]
In April 2025 he survived brutal treatment by police, medical neglect in jail, and a $1,000,000 bail in Orange County.[see this article in CALÓ NEWS]

Over the last eight months, community has moved with us through several phases of this campaign:
✅ raising $7,500 to secure a legal team
✅ ✅ two rounds of community fundraising and supporters taking on personal loans (!!), raising the $25,000 down payment required for Sam’s release.

➡️ When collateral requirements demonstrated a systemic barrier, a few supporters stepped up and took on personal financial risk (in the form of personal loans) so that Sam could come home.
This is yet another example of what community care can look like in practice: sharing risk so no one is left to carry it alone.

That $25,000 is the upfront portion of a bail bond contract with a total fee of $70,000.
Many who find themselves incarcerated are not in a position to buy back their freedom. Sam is one of the rare people who has poured into communities across Indian Country and organizing circles for years, so people love him and are eager to have his back the way he has always had theirs. Others were motivated from hearing stories of his work that wouldn't have otherwise been told. We know this is a rare and beautiful gift, which also means we have a responsibility to ensure it benefits the whole community.

That's why we are choosing to treat this case as a learning site: to be honest about the true cost of a fighting chance, and to build shared responsibility around it instead of accepting pretrial incarceration as a standard and reasonable response to poverty, leaving people to face it alone.

Our relentless fundraising and commitment to learning and adapting is the reason Sam is now out after eight months in the county jail.

In this phase of the campaign, we are tying up loose ends to transition this from an emergency relief campaign to a sustainable, mutually beneficial partnership. We continue to support Sam's legal and transitional fees, and in exchange we get an intimate look at what the true cost of a fighting chance looks like.

To end this emergency relief campaign, we need:

$5,000 for the remaining large bail payment, which switches to smaller monthly payments following this final multi-thousand-dollar payment
$2,000 to get his car from the mechanic so he can begin working
$500 for expenses related to renewing Sam's welding certifications, which will qualify him for jobs similar to the one he lost due to incarceration.

DEADLINE: FEB 2nd, 2026

Total to raise in this phase: $7,500

BEAR Dignity of Bail: FREE SAM

PHASE 4: From Emergency to Rebuilding

Team Members