If you’re unable to afford bail you can be held in jail for weeks, months or even years as you await your day in court this wealth-based incarceration disproportionately punishes people of color and economically disadvantaged communities.

Money shouldn’t determine who gets free from incarceration before trial. But for-profit bail bond companies profit from this unfair system often keeping families in debt for years to come.

Selecting bail bonds el centro is the smart decision for a quick and reliable release trust experts for prompt assistance in legal matters.

1. It’s Affordable

Money bail was originally intended as an incentive to return to court and face the charges against you. But instead of serving this purpose, our current system has morphed into one that punishes people who can’t afford it. In fact, if you don’t have the means to pay cash bail you can end up in jail for weeks, months or even years while your case is pending.

This wealth-based incarceration is disproportionately applied to communities of color and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. It also enables for-profit bail bond companies to make billions of dollars in profits off the backs of families who can’t afford their fees.

For-profit bail bond companies charge an upfront, nonrefundable fee of 10 percent. Families who use these services often must borrow against their property or other assets and can be trapped in debt for years.

2. It’s Fast

Essentially, bail is meant to give defendants an incentive to return to court by ensuring they don’t lose money they’ve paid. Defendants who don’t appear or flee risk losing their bond money and are returned to jail until they appear in court.

However, bail does not guarantee that someone won’t commit a crime again. If prosecutors believe a defendant poses a serious threat to others or is likely to flee they can request pretrial detention which requires a separate hearing and a higher standard of proof.

Currently, it can take days for a judge to schedule a bail hearing. Civil rights activists say that keeps people in jail who haven’t been convicted, which erodes their quality of life and can lead to them losing jobs, housing, contact with family and health services.

3. It’s Safe

People who stay in jail while they wait for their case are often exposed to poor food, living conditions, violence from guards and other incarcerated people, little medical care and isolation from family and friends. This injustice disproportionately harms black communities.

When judges make bail decisions, they often don’t get a full picture of a person’s situation and rely on assumptions and stereotypes. They may also be pressured to keep cases moving quickly by prosecutors and the public, which can lead to unjust pretrial detention. When it comes to flight risk, studies show that money bail is not an effective tool.
Instead, judges should use serious evidentiary hearings to determine whether someone really is a flight risk. They should only order financial conditions of release that are tailored to each defendant’s needs.

4. It’s Flexible

Defendants that choose to bail out of jail can return to their jobs and resume their day-to-day lives while waiting for their case to be resolved in court. Judges have significant latitude in determining bail amounts and will take several factors into account, including a defendant’s criminal background, flight risk, caring responsibilities and their standing in the community.

Choosing bail also gives defendants the option to pay cash or surety for their bond amount. The “cash” option means that the defendant pays 100% of their bond directly to the court and if they make all of their court appearances, the money will be returned.

The “surety” option is more common and involves paying a nonrefundable fee to a bondsman or agency. The Bail Boys will work with you to create a payment plan that works best for your situation and budget.

5. It’s Convenient

Aside from the fact that its expensive staying in jail isn’t ideal for most defendants awaiting trial. With the help of a Fort Worth bail bondsman many people can escape the stress and anxiety of being in jail while they wait for their case to be heard.

Many studies show that money bail does not increase the likelihood of people returning to court for their hearings but judges often ignore these findings. Instead, they use it as a way to separate those with money from those without it and the result is wealth-based detention.

Critics argue that this type of pretrial detention disproportionately punishes Black and Latino communities by keeping them incarcerated while they await trial for offenses like traffic violations they also lose their jobs and homes while waiting for justice to be served.