There is “one fact” out there that
public sector pretrial proponents don’t want anyone to know. And that
fact is that the poor don’t really languish away in jail because of the
bail bond industry. Why don’t they want anyone to know? Because that one
piece of information completely discredits the foundation of their argument
against the private sector bail industry. That one fact challenges the
entirety of their false narrative that the commercial bail industry, or
"money bail" as they refer to it, keeps the poor in jail. And
that is extremely important since that false and misguided narrative has
become the central mantra of the bail reform movement.
Over the past couple months there have been several news articles published
around the country with headlines like, “Advocates Push Bail Reform to Stop
Penalizing People for Being Poor,” and “In Jail, Too Poor to Make Bail.”
While these news headlines create excitement and put the cross-hairs on a
single protagonist (the bail industry) they are patently false. If these
headlines were to be true, then there would have to be two assumptions that
everyone would need to believe. First, that law enforcement is
strategically going out and arresting people for merely being poor.
Second, that rich people and poor people each follow a different set of laws.
I think it is important to look at each of these assumptions separately,
because when you do, I am sure that you will see how ridiculous the argument
becomes.
Let’s look at the first statement, that “People are not arrested for being
poor. The last time I looked there does not seem to be a law or ordinance
in any county across the country that says it is a crime to be poor.
Therefore, it only makes sense that there can never be a situation where
someone is arrested for being poor. The hard truth is that the ONLY
reason that someone is sitting in jail is because they have been “accused” of a
crime. Somewhere at some time a law enforcement officer had “probable
cause” to approach, question and arrest that individual for potentially
committing a crime. This fact never seems to be mentioned in stories
about so called bail reform, but as you can see it is an extremely important
fact. People are not being arrested based on the size of their wallet,
but rather on the good chance (probable cause) that they committed a crime.
The same goes for the second statement…”People do not sit in jail because they
are poor.” Many of the arguments being made against the commercial bail
industry today are all focused on the premise that bail agents only let rich
people out of jail while ignoring those that are poor. These arguments
are not only false, but completely myopic and foolish. To be honest, I
think that this myopia is based on a lack of understanding of the purpose of
bail and how it works. Let me explain why. First, if you were to
ask any supporter of public sector pretrial programs how commercial bail works,
I would bet you that the answer you would get would be incorrect or simply they
might reply, “I don’t know.” The reason I say this is because if you
fully understand how bail works, you could never say that the industry is
unfair to the poor. Before I get into this a little more, I first wanted
to deal with the other side of the coin…that the bail industry only serves rich
people and helps them get out of jail, and debunk this myth as well. This
explanation is actually pretty simple. The so called “Rich” people that
opponents of commercial bail talk about, do not use bail bond agents.
Instead, they write a check to the court for the full amount of the bail.
Bill Cosby doesn’t need a bail agent, he writes a check and posts the
full amount of the bail himself. If anything, this scenario shows how
commercial bail industry isn’t designed for the rich, but rather it is
specifically designed to level the playing field and help those that do not
have the means to put up the full amount of the bond. Bail gives ALL
socio economic levels an opportunity to be released by charging a small fee
which is only a fraction of the full amount of the bail.
Next, when someone makes the statement that someone can’t get out of jail
because they are poor, they don’t fully understand who the customer of a bail
agent really is. A bail bond agent’s customer is NOT the defendant.
It is the family, friends and extended members of the defendant’s social
circle that want that defendant out. So the socio-economic situation of
the defendant in reality is really irrelevant since they rarely are the ones
paying to get themselves out. In fact, based on input from several of the
nation’s largest sureties, 95% of those that are released from jail have their
bail paid by a third party. Only a very small percentage of defendants
self-bail…or pay their bail themselves. That third party contract is what
makes bail so effective. Instead of relying on a defendant to show up and
solely hold them accountable, bail ties an additional third party to the
contract that has both an emotional and financial incentive to not only get
that defendant to court, but also keep them out of trouble while they await
trial.
As you can see, when you look more closely and fully understand the bail
process and its purpose, it is easy to understand that bail agents do not
discriminate against or feed on the poor. But rather they are a lifeline
to those defendants and families who don’t have the ability to pay their own
bail; all the while, providing better security for the community and
accountability to the court around each defendant that is released.
Aren’t those things the most important?
Based on the above facts, you really need to begin to question the credibility
and motives behind those pushing the bail reform movement forward. To put
a target on an industry that plays such an essential role in the criminal
justice system seems misguided and illogical. If we truly want to reform
our criminal justice system, the answer shouldn’t be to dismantle the private
sector’s role, but rather to bring all stakeholder together including the bail
industry to have meaningful and productive discussions to develop the most
efficient and effective way to ensure that our system provides justice for
everyone…not just the rich…and not just the poor.
