Incareration nation, half a million inmates who could be free are locked up because they can't afford bail.
More than a half-million inmates sitting in America’s jails not because they’re dangerous or a threat to society or because a judge thinks they will run, says National Public Radio. It’s not even because they are guilty; they haven’t been tried yet. They are there because they can’t make bail, sometimes as little as $50. Some wait behind bars for as long as a year before their cases make it to court. It costs taxpayers $9 billion this year to house them.
A bail process almost unique to the United States rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor. It exists almost solely to protect the interests of a powerful bail bonding industry. The result is that people with money get out. They go back to their jobs and their families, pay their bills and fight their cases. According to the Justice Department and national studies, those with money face far fewer consequences for their crimes. People without money stay in jail and are left to take whatever offer prosecutors feel like giving them.
One example is Leslie Chew who's bail is $3,500. He would need to leave that much as a cash deposit with the court to leave jail. Or he could pay a bail bondsman a $350 nonrefundable fee to do it for him. If he had either amount, he could stand up and walk out the door right now. But he doesn't. The money, says Chew, "is like a million dollars to me." When Chew headed down the grocery aisle and put four $30 blankets under his arm, he set in motion a process almost unique to the United States that rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor. And, NPR has found, it exists almost solely to protect the interests of a powerful bail bonding industry.
The result is that people with money get out. They go back to their jobs and their families, pay their bills and fight their cases. And according to the Justice Department and national studies, those with money face far fewer consequences for their crimes. People without money stay in jail and are left to take whatever offer prosecutors feel like giving them. If a defendant does run, the bondsman is also supposed to pay the county the full cost of the bond as a sort of punishment for not keeping an eye on the client.
According to Beni Hemmeline from Lubbock's district attorney's office.
Hemmeline says Lubbock usually settles for a far lower amount than the full bond. In fact, according to the county treasurer in Lubbock, bondsmen usually only pay 5 percent of the bond when a client runs.Consider that math for a minute. The bondsmen charge clients at least 10 percent. But if the client runs, they only have to pay the county 5 percent. Meaning if they make no effort whatsoever, they still profit.
Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122725771