When a judge opts not to release a defendant and sets bail that’s higher than he can pay in cash, a commercial bail bond agent decides, in effect, whether the…
It’s rare, but it happens: A person gets arrested on multiple charges, has $1 bail set on one, clears the other counts up, but remains in jail for lack of…
Other cities have employed new methods of pre-trial monitoring to avoid setting financial bail. Given the scale of the city’s criminal justice system, would such an approach deliver both public…
Bail does serve a purpose: preventing defendants from skipping court. But in legislatures and courthouses, there’s political pressure to also use it to punish.
The decision to impose financial bail can have an impact on the city’s jail costs, the ability of the court system to establish truth and an individual’s work, family, housing…
