The Most Common Bail Bonds Los Angeles CA Debate Isn't as Black and White as You Might Think




What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a felony defendant to look for trial or pay a sum of money set by the court docket. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who expenses the defendant a price in return for guaranteeing the cost. The bail bond is a sort of surety bond.
The commercial bail bond system exists solely in the United States and the Philippines. In other international locations, bail may entail a set of restrictions and circumstances positioned on felony defendants in return for his or her release till their trial dates.
Key Takeaways
·A bail bond cosigned by a bail bondsmen is posted by a defendant in lieu of full fee of the bail set by the courtroom.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will seem for trial.
·Judges typically have large latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen generally cost 10% of the bail quantity up front in return for his or her service and may charge extra fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is broadly considered as discriminatory to low-income defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of young African-American males.
How a Bail Bond Works
An individual who is charged with a crime is usually given a bail listening to earlier than a judge. The quantity of the bail is on the decide's discretion. A decide may deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical level if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or seems more likely to be a flight danger.
Judges generally have wide latitude in setting bail quantities, and typical quantities range by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor may see bail set at $500. Felony crime costs have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or more not uncommon.
The industrial bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines.
Once the quantity of the bail is ready, the defendant's decisions are to stay in jail till the costs are resolved at trial, to rearrange for a Discover more bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full until the case is resolved. In the final occasion, courts in some jurisdictions settle for title to a house or different collateral of value in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, additionally known as bail bond agents, present written agreements to criminal courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to seem on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen typically cost 10% of the bail amount up front in return for their service and should charge further charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
The agent can also require a press release of creditworthiness or could demand that the defendant flip over collateral in the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen generally accept most property of worth, together with vehicles, jewellery, and houses as well as stocks and bonds.
Once the bail or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is released till trial.
The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System
The bail bond system has change into part of the larger debate over mass incarceration, especially of young African-American males, within the U.S.
The bail bond system is taken into account by many even within the authorized profession to be discriminatory, as it requires low-revenue defendants to stay in jail or scrape together a ten% money charge and the remainder of the bail-in collateral—even earlier than they stand trial for any crime. PrisonPolicy.org says that about 536,000 persons are being held in jails within the U.S. because they cannot afford bail or a bail bondsman's providers.
4 states together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and as a substitute require a 10% deposit on the bail amount to be lodged with the court. In 2018, California voted to get rid of money bail necessities from its courtroom system.

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