I really like the Bail Project - https://www.ted.com/talks/robin_steinberg_what_if_we_ended_t...
Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
21–30 of 131 posts
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#22Bail funds have emerged in many cities to help get people out of jail while they await their trial. If you are interested (and hopefully appalled) by how many people are locked in cages in the United States without being convicted of anything simply because they don't have the money to post bail, please find one and donate to it. Your money can keep working to get many people out of jail long after you donate. https:…
I served on a jury where the guy was in jail for 3 days short of six months. He ended up being convicted on a charge which carries a maximum of 6 months. He almost certainly wouldn't have received 6 months (if any time at all), so inability to pay bail was the greater crime.
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#23There shouldn't be fees of ANY kind in the justice system.
Exactly. Justice is a public concern and therefore should be entirely funded by taxes. The moment incentives other than serving justice are introduced (money, lawyer win rate, etc), the system is perverted.
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#24Cash bail is a terrible system, but not having it is worse. At least from what I understand, the states removing cash bail end up having the judges keep much more people in jail, as suddenly everybody is a flight risk.
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Suppose someone is accused of a mass shooting, murdering their neighbor, beating up their spouse, carjacking, or armed robbery. Right then, off you go; just wear this bracelet... Doesn't seem particularly reasonable to not incarcerate anyone before trial.
I think it makes sense to jail people who are an immediate harm to others like serial killers and some spousal abusers. Jailing for even things like armed robbery and carjacking seem often unnecessary if you can track people, very few people will keep carjacking and armed robbing while under surveillance like that.
I wonder if there's a way to surgically implant a GPS transmitter so that they a) can't take it out with a high risk of dying and b) can be tracked by satellite. I suspect that the battery would be the big problem.
On the one hand, if we're gonna do surgery on someone to surveil them hopefully it would be reserved for people actually convicted of a violent crime. On the other hand, I'd very possibly want the surgery myself if I thought the alternative was spending months in jail awaiting trial.
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#26I'm surprised that one of the simplest solutions hasn't been tried. Bail bondsmen are restricted by statute on how much they can charge; we should at least consider lowering the rate from 10% to something much lower (1-2%?) and putting tools like follow-up text messages, etc., in the hands of these agencies. It's not ideal but it is in their best interest to ensure that their clients show up in court rather than have to chase them down.
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#27There shouldn't be fees of ANY kind in the justice system.
Strictly speaking it isn't a fee. If you have all of the money for your bail you give it up but you get all of it back when you show up court. If you use a bail bondsman that's who charges you the fee. They are basically giving you a loan, and then they are on the hook to make sure you show up.
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#28This is a very interesting data driven article that will make you depressed. I recommend it. > Technological solutions, like electronic anklets that monitor an individual’s whereabouts, are another option. Even sending text-message reminders to show up in court makes it more likely that a defendant will do so. All these options are cheaper than incarceration. I hope this gains popularity. Cash bail discriminates agai…
The article also proves things that people were unwilling to accept in this article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19253333 There people always made the point that human judges making just decisions based on fairness. Well, clearly not. Algorithms would be another, better way to know exactly what makes the determination if a person should be released awaiting trial or not.
>Algorithms would be another, better way to know exactly what makes the determination if a person should be released awaiting trial or not.
Isn't it a source of constant concern that the algorithms that end up being used in law enforcement inevitably end up employing the same stereotypes that their flesh and blood counterparts have?
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#29There shouldn't be fees of ANY kind in the justice system.
Strictly speaking it isn't a fee. If you have all of the money for your bail you give it up but you get all of it back when you show up court. If you use a bail bondsman that's who charges you the fee. They are basically giving you a loan, and then they are on the hook to make sure you show up.
I guess I'm confused to why a system needs to have bail bondsmen - isn't the idea behind bail being something you can possibly give up but want to get back? Isn't bail bonds something you can't afford? Even just paying the fee might be too much for people, but the alternative is to wait in jail an unjust amount of time.
Re: Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years
#30With the ubiquitous tracking technology we have these days, why are we still putting innocent people in jail? It's barbaric and unjust. Give them a GPS bracelet and let them go home or wherever they want. Or have we given up completely on the "innocent until proven guilty" idea?
Suppose someone is accused of a mass shooting, murdering their neighbor, beating up their spouse, carjacking, or armed robbery. Right then, off you go; just wear this bracelet... Doesn't seem particularly reasonable to not incarcerate anyone before trial.
Mass shooters are almost never captured alive anyway.