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For non-capital offenses whether to hold someone without bail at all or what the bail amount should be is explicitly not based on the crime the person is being

by Spivak 3y ago

For non-capital offenses whether to hold someone without bail at all or what the bail amount should be is explicitly not based on the crime the person is being accused of. The only determination being made at the bail hearing is how much of a flight risk the person is.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
That isn't true in WA: > Washington is a right-to-bail state, meaning a judge cannot hold a suspect without bail except in cases where the crime is punishable by the possibility of life in prison and there is “clear and convincing evidence of a propensity for violence,” meaning the suspect is likely to be a danger to the community if they are released. https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/washington-state-felony-court-process-hold-suspect-in-custody-bail/281-736ff0c8-10b1-4315-aed5-1b5409dc9245 https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/washington-state-fe... Why bail isn't being issued at all has more to do for the current push for equity, and also, we just don't want to put people in jail anymore. So they are guaranteed release with bail, and often that is reduced to no bail if the offender is indigent.
- chaps 3y ago
  "we just don't want to put people in jail anymore." This is laughably far from the truth. There are loads and loads and loads of people who want to put people in jail. You can see that very clearly by looking at the number of people in jail. Here's [1] an article about rising populations in a Seattle jail: "The overall population at King County’s two jails fell from over 1,900 to about 1,300 during the pandemic, as the county moved to increase alternatives to incarceration. But since then, the jail population has crept back up to about 1,600." [1] https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/king-county-looks-to-contract-out-jail-services-to-deal-with-understaffing-rising-populations/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/king-county-looks-...
Gibbon1 3y ago
Historically before telegraph, telephone, and computerized records if you got arrested you could just skip out. And you might not need to go far either. If you lived in New York in 1890 you probably could just switch jobs and rent another apartment. So bail in order to compel people to show up to court. Much harder to do that today. So much less need for bail.
dragonwriter 3y ago
> For non-capital offenses whether to hold someone without bail at all or what the bail amount should be is explicitly not based on the crime the person is being accused of. The only determination being made at the bail hearing is how much of a flight risk the person is. This isn’t true in general; someone else posted details about Washington, but many state systems have limits (and it usually isn’t just “capital offenses”) on offenses where bail can be denied, and for all others bail must be set (that doesn’t mean the terms will be acceptable). As such, the decision as to whether bail will be offered at all does, in fact, often explicitly consider the offenses charged.

by Spivak 3y ago

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

That isn't true in WA: > Washington is a right-to-bail state, meaning a judge cannot hold a suspect without bail except in cases where the crime is punishable by the possibility of life in prison and there is “clear and convincing evidence of a propensity for violence,” meaning the suspect is likely to be a danger to the community if they are released. https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/washington-state-felony-court-process-hold-suspect-in-custody-bail/281-736ff0c8-10b1-4315-aed5-1b5409dc9245 https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/washington-state-fe... Why bail isn't being issued at all has more to do for the current push for equity, and also, we just don't want to put people in jail anymore. So they are guaranteed release with bail, and often that is reduced to no bail if the offender is indigent.

chaps 3y ago
"we just don't want to put people in jail anymore." This is laughably far from the truth. There are loads and loads and loads of people who want to put people in jail. You can see that very clearly by looking at the number of people in jail. Here's [1] an article about rising populations in a Seattle jail: "The overall population at King County’s two jails fell from over 1,900 to about 1,300 during the pandemic, as the county moved to increase alternatives to incarceration. But since then, the jail population has crept back up to about 1,600." [1] https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/king-county-looks-to-contract-out-jail-services-to-deal-with-understaffing-rising-populations/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/king-county-looks-...

Gibbon1 3y ago

Historically before telegraph, telephone, and computerized records if you got arrested you could just skip out. And you might not need to go far either. If you lived in New York in 1890 you probably could just switch jobs and rent another apartment. So bail in order to compel people to show up to court. Much harder to do that today. So much less need for bail.

dragonwriter 3y ago

> For non-capital offenses whether to hold someone without bail at all or what the bail amount should be is explicitly not based on the crime the person is being accused of. The only determination being made at the bail hearing is how much of a flight risk the person is. This isn’t true in general; someone else posted details about Washington, but many state systems have limits (and it usually isn’t just “capital offenses”) on offenses where bail can be denied, and for all others bail must be set (that doesn’t mean the terms will be acceptable). As such, the decision as to whether bail will be offered at all does, in fact, often explicitly consider the offenses charged.