Great article about how unfair bail is and maybe a way to fix it!

[USALiberal]

I have always thought that bail is only easy for wealthy people. Poor people cannot post bail so are serving time when they are presumed innocent. And lose their jobs in the process. This is an interesting story about a different method to determine bail:

JERSEY CITY, N.J. ─ On the ground floor of a deteriorating county courthouse, in a room outfitted with temporary office furniture and tangles of electrical wires, a cornerstone of America’s criminal justice system is crumbling.

A 20-year-old man in a green jail jumpsuit appears on a video monitor that faces a judge. It is early June, and he has been arrested for driving a car with a gun locked in the glove compartment.

If he were in almost any other courtroom in the country, he’d be ordered to stay behind bars until he posted bail — if he could afford it. This is what millions of people charged with crimes from shoplifting to shootings have done for more than two centuries. The bail system, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, is meant to ensure that all defendants, presumed innocent before trial, get a shot at freedom and return to court.

But allowing people to pay for their release has proved unfair to people who don’t have much money. The poor are far more likely to get stuck in jail, which makes them far more likely to get fired from jobs, lose custody of children, plead guilty to something they didn’t do, serve time in prison and suffer the lifelong consequences of a criminal conviction. Those who borrow from a bail bondsman often fall into crippling debt.

Worth the read: https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/bail-reform

[JimGinPA]

1. Very Interesting

K&R

[panader0]

2. I saw a panel on tv discuss this the other day.

Besides bail being too high, prisoners are charged $75 or $80 bucks a day
for their incarceration. 2" thick foam mats, wonderful cuisine and charming
cell mates.

[USALiberal]

4. And the bail bond business love bail, fair or not. n/t

[Maeve]

3. Something that needs doing--K&R

[Orrex]

5. And their attorneys are often terribly overworked public defenders

As a result, they get only the most basic legal counsel, frequently resulting in plea bargains even when the defendant is actually innocent.

Not to mention the court costs incurred, and (in some places) actual fees for jail time.


The entire operation is a racket, fueled by racism and economic discrimination and designed to guarantee a permanent slave class.

[USALiberal]

6. So true!!! n/t