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What is the alternative then? Let a probable criminal go wander the streets or disappear altogether? At least these people have some possibility of release rath

What is the alternative then? Let a probable criminal go wander the streets or disappear altogether? At least these people have some possibility of release rather than none at all. While some innocents may be confined to a jail awaiting trial, I'm sure this is a minority, not the majority. Even then, bail skippers still occur. Let's quit with the "Oh the poor criminal being treated that way" mentality.

DarkWiiPlayer 8y ago
> "Oh the poor criminal being treated that way" No. It's the exact opposite. Until they are proven guilty of a crime, it's a "Oh the poor innocent people being treated that way" mentality, and that is perfectly justifiable. People awaiting trial should only be locked away when there's any actual reason to believe they would disappear or commit a serious crime before their trial.
- sureaboutthis 8y ago
  Thus, the purpose of bail money that people are complaining about. However, as I said in my post, most people are likely to be guilty of said crime and the most heinous ones are those you don't want them on the streets.
crispyambulance 8y ago
> What is the alternative then? Let a probable criminal go wander the streets or disappear altogether? Grotesque inequities in the bail system are merely one symptom of the intractable disaster of criminal justice in America. This problem is tied to many other problems, you can't deal with them one at a time. But "letting someone go" is not as bad as it sounds. Keeping them in jail because they can't come up with a few hundred dollars from a predatory storefront bailbonds joint ALSO has problems. If that person had a job, they've now lost it. If they have children, they're now at risk of losing them, and the children face an even more chaotic home life. In addition to that, keeping someone locked up is costly to the state.
- sureaboutthis 8y ago
  Thus a good reason to not put yourself into serious situations that cause you to be arrested. Let's not blame the system that arrested someone doing criminal activity.
kup0 8y ago
The fundamental flaw in your viewpoint is the fact that you see nearly everyone awaiting trial as a criminal. Regardless of whether the system respects this- "innocent until proven guilty" is a principle that we should not lose
- sureaboutthis 8y ago
  I'll repeat what I asked, what is your alternative?
SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
4.1% of death row inmates are wrongfully executed[1]. That's with literal years of due process and investigation and trial, not just a cop with reasonable suspicion. Can you imagine how many people must be wrongfully arrested and only released on bail? [1]https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cost-of-convicting-the-innocent/2015/07/24/260fc3a2-1aae-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html?utm_term=.826d679ba445 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cost-of-convicti...
TillE 8y ago
Unless you murdered somebody, the vast vast majority of people arrested in Germany are quickly released pending trial. Status quo bias is such a huge problem. We think that just because the world (or a country) works a certain way, that it's justified and correct. These are all just mostly arbitrary half-broken systems that have accrued over time, so it pays to look at how things might be different.

DarkWiiPlayer 8y ago

> "Oh the poor criminal being treated that way" No. It's the exact opposite. Until they are proven guilty of a crime, it's a "Oh the poor innocent people being treated that way" mentality, and that is perfectly justifiable. People awaiting trial should only be locked away when there's any actual reason to believe they would disappear or commit a serious crime before their trial.

sureaboutthis 8y ago
Thus, the purpose of bail money that people are complaining about. However, as I said in my post, most people are likely to be guilty of said crime and the most heinous ones are those you don't want them on the streets.

crispyambulance 8y ago

> What is the alternative then? Let a probable criminal go wander the streets or disappear altogether? Grotesque inequities in the bail system are merely one symptom of the intractable disaster of criminal justice in America. This problem is tied to many other problems, you can't deal with them one at a time. But "letting someone go" is not as bad as it sounds. Keeping them in jail because they can't come up with a few hundred dollars from a predatory storefront bailbonds joint ALSO has problems. If that person had a job, they've now lost it. If they have children, they're now at risk of losing them, and the children face an even more chaotic home life. In addition to that, keeping someone locked up is costly to the state.

sureaboutthis 8y ago
Thus a good reason to not put yourself into serious situations that cause you to be arrested. Let's not blame the system that arrested someone doing criminal activity.

kup0 8y ago

The fundamental flaw in your viewpoint is the fact that you see nearly everyone awaiting trial as a criminal. Regardless of whether the system respects this- "innocent until proven guilty" is a principle that we should not lose

sureaboutthis 8y ago
I'll repeat what I asked, what is your alternative?

SketchySeaBeast 8y ago

4.1% of death row inmates are wrongfully executed[1]. That's with literal years of due process and investigation and trial, not just a cop with reasonable suspicion. Can you imagine how many people must be wrongfully arrested and only released on bail? [1]https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cost-of-convicting-the-innocent/2015/07/24/260fc3a2-1aae-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html?utm_term=.826d679ba445 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cost-of-convicti...

TillE 8y ago

Unless you murdered somebody, the vast vast majority of people arrested in Germany are quickly released pending trial. Status quo bias is such a huge problem. We think that just because the world (or a country) works a certain way, that it's justified and correct. These are all just mostly arbitrary half-broken systems that have accrued over time, so it pays to look at how things might be different.