NCJ Number
127752
Journal
American Jails Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Dated: (November/December 1990) Pages: 8-10,16
Date Published
1990
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The commercial bail bond system in the United States is continually being challenged, and the bail system's appropriateness and impact on courts have been questioned.
Abstract
The American Bar Association and the National District Attorney's Association have called for the elimination of compensated sureties in their respective standards on the pretrial process. The bail reform movement started with Federal bail legislation in 1966 that established a presumption toward nonfinancial release on recognizance for Federal courts. This statute left surety bail as an option available to the judiciary in considering appropriate release conditions, but identified it as one of the last options a judicial officer should consider. Most States currently allow commercial bail as one form of money bail that can be imposed. While it is clear that the use of surety bail has decreased in recent years as nonfinancial release options have developed, it is equally clear that a sizable number of arrestees still accomplish their release through the intervention of a bail bondsperson. The reason bonding for profit continues appears to be based on two assumptions: that bail bondspersons are effective in assuring defendants will appear in court when required and that, if people fail to appear, bondspersons will bring them back to court. The validity of these assumptions is questioned. Other issues that need to be resolved are noted such as whether the decision to release prior to trial should be based primarily on money and whether the decision to release prior to trial should be in the hands of a nonjudicial officer. 11 footnotes