The Necessity of Bail Reform

Abstract

The administration of bail in the United States is a process which has a tendency to be misunderstood and often misused by the general public and practitioners of the criminal justice system. It is generally thought that the bail process prevents those accused from fleeing frotn justice. Additionally, it is presumed that bail may be usedfor the purpose of preventive detention, that is, to protect the community from the release of dangerous persons. Though the original purpose of bail was to insure the accused's appearance in court, this being the only legitimate use of bail today; we contend that it does not satisfy this purpose. The primary result of the bail process is the incarceration of indigent and inexperienced offenders. Not only does this process fail to insure a released offender's appearance in court, it is actually an impediment to justice. The use of bailfor the purpose of preventive detention, in essence, constitutes a misuse of the bail process since the purpose of bail is simply to insure that the accused will appearfor trial. In fact, in many cases wefind the majority of those not able to make bail are the poor while serious offenders are released on bail. Both of these aspects should be viewed in light of their apparentfailure to achieve their goals, from the reformist's standpoint. If a process is not meeting its goals, then changes are in order.