Reply to peer BH: Hello everyone,
For this discussion post, I believe that cash bail should be eliminated as an option in pretrial procedures because it is racially biased, financially unfair, and inhumane. “Polls have found that most people favor ending the practice of jailing people who cannot afford money bail before trial in all but extreme cases. This position is not just humane—it’s also fiscally responsible. The United States spends an estimated $22.2 billion annually to detain people in jails, and money bail is a major driver of this mass incarceration. And this is not just a problem in major cities. Since 1970, rural pretrial incarceration has grown more than 400 percent” (Snowden, 2021). Additionally Will Snowden, a public defender for much of his life gives us two examples. First, “I once defended a young mother who was charged with cannabis possession but could not afford to pay her $2,500 bond. The case against her was weak, and I begged her to go to trial to prove her innocence. But the trial could have taken weeks or months to begin, and her children needed her. Desperate to get back to them, she pled guilty” (2021). This instance not only effected the mother but the family as well because both the mother, who could afford bail, and the family were not able to see their mother because she pled guilty automatically because she wanted to see her kids sooner. This raises another problem of awaiting trial. It takes much to long for someone to go to trial so motivation such as seeing her kids sooner was a risk she was willing to take by pleading guilty. “In another case, police arrested a man who worked nights at Waffle House and watched his children while his wife worked days. If he had stayed detained pretrial, he would have lost his job, and his wife would not have been able to work because he wouldn’t have been able to care for their children. This compelled him to plead guilty, even though I told him that he would likely be acquitted at trial” (2021). This case again affected the family in a manner that it should not. Since the two individuals from the story could not afford the bail money, they plead guilty when they may not have even been guilty in the first place. I believe that cash bail should also be restricted due to the types of crimes. More and more bail is becoming acceptable if someone has a good lawyer no matter the crime. Putting a felon out on the street because of bail is unjust for heinous crimes. While I do have the fundamental belief that all are innocent until proven guilty someone with a murder or rape charge should not be allowed bail. If bail is not used and the criminal justice system moves quickly through the process of going to trial or dropping of charges, then I believe that not allowing bail is a good thing. Someone on the street that is caught up in a crime or even accused would not be able to pay bail because they are living on the streets, this makes them more likely to just admit guilt and not allow themselves to prove their innocence.
Reference:
Snowden, W. (2021, October 1). Money Bail is Unjust and Should End. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2021/10/01/money-bail-is-unjust-and-should-end/?sh=473bb71e6f06
Reply to peer JA: I personally believe that cash bail should not be eliminated. From the very beginning, the essential function of bail is to ensure a defendant’s appearance at trial. “Bail emerged to solve a problem we still grapple with today—balancing the general right of defendants to pre-trial freedom with need of society to protect against flight and ensure punishment” (Seibler & Snead, 2017). Bail has had its challenges over the years such as being viewed cruel and unusual punishment. The “Eighth Amendment Bail Clause prohibits bail that is excessive—without regard to whether it is unaffordable” (Seibler & Snead, 2017). Cash bail should remain an effective type of bond. Personally, our department normally issues personal recognize bonds to almost every defendant. However, there are some cases where that is not possible based on the nature of the charge and the defendant’s criminal history. We have had a number of defendants fail to appear for court from all walks of life, not necessarily just from a lower socioeconomic class.
Cash bail influences everyone involved. Cash bail has a positive influence on the wealthy, which is a given. Cash bail can also have a positive influence on bond companies. Bond companies provide the ability for a defendant to pay a percentage of the bond to the company and be released from detention. Cash bail has a neutral effect on detention facilities, due to some being granted cash bail and others not. Cash bail has a negative influence on defendants who are in the low socioeconomic class. Defendants in this class, may not have the ability to pay entire cash bond or even a percentage of the bond to bondsman. Partially the homeless population has a severe negative influence of cash bail. Not only do they not have any monetary goods to use as bail, but they do not have a fixed address. Regarding the homeless specifically, The Homeless Release Project (HRP) that was started in San Francisco would be a good program to implement across the United States. However, it may be difficult to implement that kind of program in small towns or municipalities.
In the area that I work in, most defendants do receive personal recognize bonds, where they sign their name promising to remain on good behavior and promise to appear for court. However, for the defendants who receive a cash bond receive it for a legit reason, such has having no ties to the area, the nature of the offense, and the defendant’s criminal history. Specifically, our municipality requires cash bond on the above reasons.
There are effects on both the arrestee and the criminal justice system when cash bail is and is not used. When cash bail is used, the arrestee does not have to remain in custody until their trail, and it does not overload the detention facilities. However, when cash bail is required and the offender cannot pay, detention facilities do become overloaded.
All in all, cash bail is not perfect, it has come a long way, and still has room for improvements. Looking from the lens of a criminal justice professional standpoint, I firmly believe in cash bail whether it have negative or positive influences on the defendant.
References:
Seibler, J.-M., & Snead, J. (2017, August 25). LEGAL MEMORANDUM The History of Cash Bail. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2017-08/LM-213.pd