“Vast numbers accused of petty offenses spend their pretrial detention time jailed alongside hardened convicts, learning from them how to be better criminals…One extreme example of someone held because he couldn’t afford bail is a 16-year old accused of stealing a backpack and unable to pay his $3,000 bail who  stayed at Rikers Island for 1,111 days at a cost to taxpayers of $510,545.”

http://www.pretrial.org/fairness-fiscally-responsible