Bail decisions invariably fall within the purview of the judiciary; judicial officers, also referred to as bail authorities, determine and decide pretrial release or pretrial detention. The twofold criteria for all forms of release on bail are flight risk and future dangerousness to society. There are legislative or statutory laws that extend conditional rights to defendants to be released on bail, as well as constitutional safeguards to these rights that the bail shall not be excessive. This is a universally and formally acclaimed due process right, which evokes presumption of innocence and humanitarian consideration. Hence, bail shall be viewed not only as a matter of legal rights but also as an ethical issue. It is an issue of justice, …show more content…
The Bail Reform Act of 1984 legitimized pretrial detention so long as the release of the defendant “will not reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required or will endanger the safety of any other person or the community” (§3141(c)). The act also requires a mandatory pretrial detention hearing and a revocation hearing in open court, in which the defendant enjoys the rights to a defense counsel, to cross-examine government witnesses, and to present evidence in his or her favor, as well as appeal rights in case of denial of bail. The act further sets the procedural parameters of “standard of proof” (preponderance of evidence), admissibility of “hearsay evidence,” and “burden of persuasion” (on the government) about flight risk and future dangerousness. The act also requires that detention orders shall be provided in writing with clear and convincing “finding of facts” and “statements of reason.” One of the unique features in the act is the incorporation of sentence enhancing provisions for new crimes committed while free on bail, that is, up to one year for a misdemeanor and up to 10 years for a felony to be added to the penalty of the new
On 4/3/2016, I was assigned as the Dock officer at the Lower Buckeye Jail, located at the above address.
Conclusion: Congress hoped to achieve a greater degree of accuracy in assessing flight and danger of arrestees through establishing the Bail Reform Act of 1984, which set objective guidelines for judicial officers in assessing release conditions including taking into account for the first time the probability an offender will re-offend while on pretrial release. It was also hoped that the Act would bring back the community's trust in bond setting practice. Overall, the benefits of the Bail Reform Act of 1984 do exceed any detriments, but some problems do exist. These problems include the uniformity in the application of the Bail Reform Act of 1984, as well as the interpretation of dangerousness to the community. Through future legislative and executive reform, this Act will go through multiple changes until these issues are addressed.
The 6th amendement of the U.S. Constituion gurantees the acussed the right to a speedy trial. In New York more specifically, the prosecution must be ready for trial on all felonies except murder within six months, or the charges aginst a defendant can be dissmissed. However, an article written in The New Yorker by Jennifer Gonnerman about a young man named Kalief Browder, sheds light on a situation that is should have been handled more differently. Kalief browder spend three years on Rikers Island in what could only be described as horrible conditions, and suffered appalling violence, without ever being convicted of a crime. The failure of our Criminal Justice System not only deprived Kalief Browder the right to a speedy trial, but also robbed such a young man of an education, and most importantly his freedom. - Thesis Statement .
Prison litigation is a form of lawsuit process with which prisoners seek relief from prison. The Prison litigation Reform Act clearly outlines an increase in the litigation of prison cases that was enacted in 1996. Through such litigations, inmates are able to fight for their rights and fair treatment in prison. For instance among the prison ligations, we have prospective relieve where one can file a lawsuit to request the prison to change some of their policies to let one for example pray amongst groups. Exhaustion of remedies for administration also allows for one to articulate grievances against the prison official before suing them. Emotional or mental injuries are among other issues of prison litigation addressed in this prison litigation
Paying bail is not necessarily an incarcerated person's preferred way to spend money, but it is a necessary expense to get out of jail quickly. When you spend money on bail, may want to know if you can offset the cost by deducting the amount on your annual income tax return. The bail bond team at A & J Coggins Bonding, located in Covington, GA and serving residents in the Rockdale, Newton, and Walton Counties, explain if a bail bond is tax deductible.
The governance of our present day public and social order co-exist within the present day individual. Attempts to recognize the essentiality of equality in hopes of achieving an imaginable notion of structure and order, has led evidence based practitioners such as Herbert Packer to approach crime and the criminal justice system through due process and crime control. A system where packer believed in which ones rights are not to be infringed defrauded or abused was to be considered to be the ideal for procedural fairness. “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson pg 9 cjt To convict an individual because proper consideration was not taken will stir up social unrest rather then it’s initial intent, when he or she who has committed the crime is not punished for their doings can cause for a repetition and even collaboration with other’s for a similar or greater crime.
The principle of bail is basic to our system of justice and its practice as old as English law itself. When the administration of criminal justice was in its infancy, arrest for serious crime meant imprisonment without preliminary hearing and long periods of time could occur between apprehension and the arrival of the King's Justices to hold court. It was therefore a matter of utmost importance to a person under arrest to be able to obtain a provisional release from custody until his case was called. This was also the desideratum of the medieval sheriff, the representative of the Crown in criminal matters,
The case of Miranda v. Arizona (384 U.S. 436 [1966]) is one of the most important cases in history. It brought about prominent rights that are still existent today in 2015 regarding interrogations and custody. The results of this case are still seen in the current criminal justice system. However, even though the rights that were given to the system by the court, there are still instances today in which these Miranda rights are violated. The concept of Miranda has evolved a lot from a court case to a code used by law enforcement during custodies and investigations.
Prison Reform in The United States of America “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones” (Nelson Mandela, 1994). The United States of America has more people behind bars than any other country on the planet. The prisons are at over double capacity. It cost a lot of money to house prisoners each year.
In this paper I am going to be discussing the Miranda rights. What they mean to you, what they entitle you to, and how they came to be used in law enforcement today. I am discussing this topic because, one it is useful to me as a police officer, two they can be very difficult to understand, and three if they are not read properly to you when you are placed under an arrest it could actually get you off. I will start off by discussing the history and some details of the Miranda case.
From the moment an innocent individual enters the criminal justice system they are pressured by law enforcement whose main objective is to obtain a conviction. Some police interrogation tactics have been characterized as explicit violations of the suspect’s right to due process (Campbell and Denov 2004). However, this is just the beginning. Additional forms of suffering under police custody include assaults,
The first right I will talk about, is the right for speedy trial. There are two factors to consider: the...
In the criminal court, you are looked upon differently because of the conviction. Everyday life will be hard because you can get rejected from jobs, loans, licensing, traveling out the country, and even housing (Messina). Bail reform to let people who have a charges that is not violent and a treat to the community go into program like a house arrest is more fair than to have them sit in a jail til who knows when the trial is. Staying a jail only will only expenditure more tax people money. As the court system is increasingly taking longer and longer to discharge cases due to shrinking budgets and a rollback on available resources, the possibility of a lengthy pretrial detention only increases, inviting the risk of detainees losing jobs, missing social and familial obligations and incurring social stigma (Reese).
The basis of criminal justice in the United States is one founded on both the rights of the individual and the democratic order of the people. Evinced through the myriad forms whereby liberty and equity marry into the mores of society to form the ethos of a people. However, these two systems of justice are rife with conflicts too. With the challenges of determining prevailing worth in public order and individual rights coming down to the best service of justice for society. Bearing a perpetual eye to their manifestations by the truth of how "the trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both" (Hitchens, 2003, para. 5).
In the essay "Prison "Reform" in America," Roger T. Pray points out the much attention that has been devoted to research to help prevent crimes. Showing criminals the errors of their ways not by brutal punishment, but by locking them up in the attempt to reform them. Robert Pray, who is a prison psychologist, is currently a researcher with the Utah Dept. of Corrections. He has seen what has become of our prison system and easily shows us that there is really no such thing as "Prison Reform"