Bail
 Bail  (judicial term)   | |
|---|---|
| Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they comply with the judicial process. |
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they comply with the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.[1] In some countries, especially the United States, bail usually implies a bail bond.
Contents
Origin
In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, bail is more likely to consist of a set of restrictions that the suspect will have to abide by for a set period of time. Under this usage, bail can be given both before and after charge. Bail offered before charge is known as pre-charge or police bail, to secure the suspect's release under investigation. Originating in Europe many centuries before the dawn of the Republic, the practice of money bail offered an alternative to vengeful blood feuds. Instead of picking up arms against those believed to have done harm, Anglo-Saxon law required a judge to determine the guilt of an accused party. In order for that person to await a court hearing on the matter from home, there was the option to put money on the line. In this historical context, cash bail served a distinct purpose: incentivizing return to court and avoiding unsanctioned bloodshed from the mere accusation of a crime.[2]
Cash bail
| Our criminal justice system treats people better if they are rich and guilty, than if they are poor and innocent. Bail reform advocates want to change that. |
“According to the Prison Policy Initiative, less than 25 percent of people held in local jails right now have actually been convicted of a crime. By their reporting, over 460,000 "presumed innocent" people are in jail on any given day. Like so many other aspects of the criminal justice system, cash bail punishes minorities and the poor far more harshly. In 2015, 18-year-old Allen Bullock smashed a traffic cone into a cop car at a Baltimore protest after Freddie Gray died while in Baltimore police custody. When he turned himself in afterward, a judge set his bail at $500,000, double the amount for some of the officers who were being charged for Gray's death. In San Francisco, Kenneth Humphrey spent a year in jail awaiting trial after his bail was set at $350,000 for allegedly stealing $5 and a bottle of cologne in 2017.”
Luke Darby (24 May 2019) [3]
US
As incarceration rates in the U.S. remain among the highest in the world, many are calling for a reexamination of the justice system, starting with bail reform. Advocates for change argue that America’s cash bail system disproportionately affects minorities and economically disadvantaged populations. A bail bond is intended to ensure that a defendant appears in court, but bonds have become increasingly unaffordable over the past few decades. Reformers say it’s unconstitutional for a person to be imprisoned because they can’t afford bail.[4]
