The Biggest Problem With Bail Bonds in Los Angeles county, And How You Can Fix It
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an settlement by a criminal defendant to appear for trial or pay a sum of money set by the court docket. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who prices the defendant a price in return for guaranteeing the fee. The bail bond is a sort of surety bond.
The business bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines. In other countries, bail could entail a set of restrictions and situations positioned on legal defendants in return for his or her release till their trial dates.
Key Takeaways
·A bail bond cosigned by a bail bondsmen is posted by a defendant in lieu of full fee of the bail set by the courtroom.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges typically have broad latitude in setting bail amounts.
·Bail bondsmen typically cost 10% of the bail quantity up front in return for their service and may cost extra fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is broadly considered as discriminatory to low-revenue defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of young African-American men.
How a Bail Bond Works
An individual who's charged with against the law is usually given a bail hearing before a choose. The quantity of the bail is at the judge's discretion. A judge could deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical stage if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or appears likely to be a flight risk.
Judges typically have vast latitude in setting bail amounts, and typical amounts vary by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor may see bail set at $500. Felony crime fees have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or more not unusual.
The industrial bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines.
As soon as the quantity of the bail is about, the defendant's choices are to remain in jail till the fees are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full till the case is resolved. In the last occasion, courts in some jurisdictions settle for title to a home or other collateral of worth in lieu of money.
Bail bondsmen, also called bail bond brokers, present written agreements to felony courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to look on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen usually charge 10% of the bail quantity up entrance in return for their service and may cost further fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
The agent may additionally require a statement of creditworthiness or may demand that the defendant flip over collateral in the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen typically settle for most property of value, together with automobiles, jewelry, and homes in addition to stocks and bonds.
Once the bail or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is launched until trial.
The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System
The bail bond system has turn out to be a part of the bigger debate over mass incarceration, especially of younger African-American males, in the U.S.
The bail bond system is taken into account by many even within the legal occupation to be discriminatory, because it requires low-income defendants to remain in jail or scrape website collectively a 10% money charge and the rest of the bail-in collateral—even earlier than they stand trial for any crime. PrisonPolicy.org says that about 536,000 individuals are being held in jails in the U.S. as a result of they can't afford bail or a bail bondsman's services.
4 states including Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and instead require a ten% deposit on the bail amount to be lodged with the court. In 2018, California voted to get rid of money bail necessities from its court docket system.