The Injustice of Bail Bonds
We’ve spoken on bail bonds before and will do so again. Bail bonds hurt poor people. That is the bottom line. We are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty but when a person can’t afford to post bond they stay in jail until they go to court. If a person is dangerous or a flight risk then keep them in jail. If they are not then they have no business being in jail just because they can’t afford to post bond.
The video below mentions one instance where money is owed to friends who had posted bond. What happens is most people have to use a bonds company to help them post bail. Most bonds companies charge about 10% of the bond amount. If the court demands a cash bond the company has to put up the full amount in cash. No, they don’t actually bring cash. They have something similar to a credit line that they use but in those cases the full amount is held against them. When the court allows a percentage, usually 10% down, the bonds company only has the 10% of the bond amount counted against his account.
Even when a defendant shows up the bonds company gets their 10%. That’s their fee. It’s how they make money. Remember, it’s not 10% of what they put down, it’s 10% of the bond amount. In the case where the friends got together to post the 10% bond on the $100,000 bond amount, then the defendant was killed, those friends got stuck with paying $10,000. That’s 10% of the bond amount. Does it sound like a racket? You’re right. It is. And it’s a very profitable racket. It’s time to stop people profiting off of people who are in desperate circumstances. We need reform of our bail system.
Just a note. The video says bail targets women of color. I don’t agree with that. Bail targets all poor people. Law enforcement and the justice system targets people of color which is why more minorities are hurt by the bail process. But it is true that the burden is harder on women since they are more likely to be the care taker of children or the elderly.