Tag Archives: Pretrial Release

Pretrial Services Fails Again: Time to Tell the Truth

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If you have picked up a paper recently you probably have seen story after story about crowded jails.  Too many crimes being committed, but not enough jail cells to house those that break the law.  So, you are probably wondering why the jails are crowded.  Well the folks at the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI), an organization dedicated to the elimination of commercial bail and other financial means of release, would like you to believe that the jails are crowded because people can’t afford a bail bond.  In fact, according to their own research (which by the way, no one except them has seen), they state that anywhere from 60% to as high as 80% of the pretrial populations sitting in jail are stuck there because they can’t afford a bail bond.

The first question I have is where is the research?  Show us the breakdowns of these populations and prove that people truly are “languishing” away in prison because of the bail bondsmen, who by the way do not set bail — that’s the judge’s job.  The problem is that there isn’t any research…at least none actually done by PJI…and to be honest, none that supports them as an effective source of pretrial release.  If PJI only took the time to actually research the make-up of the jail populations as opposed to touring the country pitching national associations to sign resolutions of questionable merit and veracity supporting their FREE criminal welfare programs, they would see that the jail populations are comprised of many different types of individuals…most of whom can’t be released on bail…not because they can’t afford it, but rather because they don’t qualify.  For example, some sitting in the county jail right now are the following types of individuals:

–  Those being held on immigration violations – do not qualify for bail

–  Those waiting to be transferred to a state prison – do not qualify for bail

–  Those waiting to be transferred to another jail in another state or county – do not qualify for bail

–  Those being held on probation violations or “blue warrants” – do not qualify for bail

–  Those actually serving out their sentence in a county jail – do not qualify for bail

–  Those that are deemed too dangerous for the community or are a flight risk – do not qualify for bail

–  Those whose bail was set so inordinately high that they were never intended to be released anyway

–  For those that do have a bail bond set, affording one is not a problem.  With flexible financing and payment

options, bail bonds can be purchased quite readily.

So why are jails overcrowded if it is not that people can’t afford a bail bond?  We think that is a good question and one that should be answered through research as opposed to just pointing at the usual easy target, the bail bondsman.  In fact, a recent article in the Charleston Daily Mail, uncovered that probation and parole violations accounted for 38% of the jail population in a West Virginia jail (see the article by clicking the link: Parole violations add to jail woes).  While this is only one glimpse into jail populations in West Virginia, it just goes to show that there are many reasons for jail overcrowding and not just the one of “not being able to afford a bail bond.”  In fact, the Texas Public Policy Foundation recently commented on the topic of jail overcrowding by stating the following:

“The most important preliminary step available to counties seeking to reduce unnecessary pretrial incarceration is to review their jail population data to determine the number of defendants who are locked up solely because they could not afford a commercial bail bond.”

For years the anti-commercial bail PJI has targeted bail agents for extinction. We are a solution, not the problem with the criminal justice system.  In fact, the bail industry is the only entity that “guarantees” performance in the criminal justice system…and if we don’t perform we pay the court.  How does PJI respond when pretrial service agencies fail to perform, which they so frequently do?    Now that is a question that needs an answer.  What do you think?

via Behind the Paper with Brian Nairin: Pretrial Services Fails Again: Time to Tell the Truth.

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Lets amend the Constitution to put them out of business. By Dan Markel and Eric J. Miller – How Can We Fix the Constitution? – Slate Hive

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This month, some of Slate’s legal eagles are proposing their favorite constitutional amendments, in the service of our effort, with Me the People author Kevin Bleyer, to rewrite the founding document. Here are proposals about the right to trial by jury, protecting informational privacy, amending the Constitution by national referendum, electing the attorney general, moving up the date of the presidential inauguration, restoring the balance of war powers, Supreme Court term limits, forcing Congress to fix the rules of congressional procedure, a right to health care, a right to vote, victims’ rights, campaign finance, elections,and the death penalty and solitary confinement

Excessive Bail (Eighth Amendment)

The Eighth Amendment currently states: “Excessive bail shall not be required.” This is supposed to help protect the presumption of innocence and strengthen the right to trial by jury, by making sure the government doesn’t set bail disproportionately high just to jail someone—before he has been found guilty—out of whim or malice.

Nonetheless, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, pretrial detainees account for almost one-fifth of the 2.4 million people incarcerated. More than half a million people are in jail simply because they can’t afford the bail set for them. It’s a pervasive blight.

The problem with the Constitution’s bail clause is that it speaks in vague terms about excessive amounts without giving judges (or anyone else) any guidance on how much is too much.­ It doesn’t make clear that we have the presumptive right to be home with our families instead of locked up in some squalid pesthole. This is surely wrong for most minor or nonviolent offenses where release, before trial, should be presumed automatic.

The Constitution also doesn’t say anything about who sets the bail amount, or who is on the hook for the money the defendant has paid if he doesn’t show for trial. In many states, the police or a court-appointed bail commissioner has first shot at setting the amount, and judges generally follow what they say. It’s often difficult for an officer who has just dragged a pain-in-the-ass suspect to jail to turn around and let him out, and bail commissioners, who are often untrained, usually follow the police recommendation or randomly assign an amount. Because most defendants can’t afford the payment, they turn to bail bondsmen—who make big business by preying on the poor and vulnerable.

Happily, there are modern, secure, and economical ways to run pretrial release that make all of this obsolete. But politics usually gets in the way. Broward County, Fla., for example, had a system of electronic monitoring and other measures that was cheap and safe. Offenders turned up to court, kept their jobs, and the county saved huge amounts of money. But after heavy lobbying by the influential bail bonding industry, the legislature killed the program.

Well-intentioned judges have now added to the bail mess. Since a 1987 Supreme Court ruling, judges have been allowed to impose ad hoc requirements on the defendants they release by making seat-of-the-pants predictions of risk. Unfortunately, risk reduction is becoming a cloak for a judge’s amateur social work. Lately, judges impose clusters of weird requirements that are clearly more punitive or rehabilitative, conditions such as mandatory AA, community service, taking your wife out to Red Lobster, or reading and writing book reports. And if you don’t fulfill them, you can go to jail for criminal contempt, even though you haven’t been convicted of the underlying crime you’re accused of. It’s all at odds with the constitutional presumption of innocence. Yet because there is no federal constitutional right to counsel during the bail process, there is usually little scrutiny, let alone protest. Observing this mess 20 years ago, Malcolm Feeley, the distinguished criminologist, concluded in the title of his famous book that The Process Is the Punishment.

So, here are our proposed changes to the Constitution’s bail clause:

“The right to release from custody, prior to conviction beyond a reasonable doubt, is a clear and important liberty interest. Pretrial detention is permitted only upon the government’s showing, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant poses a serious risk of flight or threat of substantial criminal wrongdoing. Pretrial release conditions shall be narrowly tailored to secure attendance at trial or the prevention of crime. Only state agents may assess and administer financial sureties; and counsel for the indigent shall be available prior to any determination of pretrial detention.”

Via – Lets amend the Constitution to put them out of business. By Dan Markel and Eric J. Miller – How Can We Fix the Constitution? – Slate Hive.

Pretrial Release

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What impact has Pretrial Release had in your county? Have your precious tax dollars been used to make our communities safer or are they putting you and your family more at risk? It’s time you heard the facts…or shall we say, the myths about Pretrial Release. If you are a bail agent you may want to share this information with your local opinion leaders.

 

To receive your FREE copy of the “Taxpayer Funded Pretrial Release – A Failed System” booklet, visit www.depositbailtruth.com.