Cash Bond In Prison

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Bond is imposed as cash or surety, at the discretion of a judge, with consideration given to a person’s criminal history, the crime charged, one’s ability to pay, their risk to the community, and likelihood to reappear – amongst other factors. A cash bond is paid in full, to the court, and is returned upon conclusion of the case. A surety bond requires the use of a bonding company, which takes a certain percentage of the ordered bond as a non-refundable fee, for posting the bond on your behalf. Paying a bonding company’s fee enters a defendant and usually their friends and family who help post it, into a contract in which they are all held liable for the surety of not only court appearance, but compliance as well. Bonding companies are …show more content…

Additionally, pretrial detention is a major contributor to mass incarceration and jail overcrowding across the nation (Covert, B.: Johnson, 2014). With bail being the primary method of release in the United States, it has proven to be inequitable with a discriminatory effect on the poor (Gottfredson, p. 288). The negative impact of jail on an accused person, starts after the first 24 hours (Covert, B. 2017). People have children to worry about, jobs to attend, bills to pay, and it all stacks up or falls apart while they are incarcerated. A released defendant is one who can live with and support his family, maintain his ties to his community, and busy himself with his own defense by searching for witnesses and evidence and by keeping in close touch with his lawyer. An imprisoned defendant is subjected to the squalor, idleness, and possible criminalizing effects of jail. He may be confined for something he did not do; some jailed defendants are ultimately …show more content…

These measures include number of prior convictions, failures to appear, pending charges, current offense, current offense level, age, highest level of education, employment status, living situation, and substance abuse (Lowenkamp, C. & Whetzel, J., 2009). Levels of Supervision At the basic level, defendants may be required to make contact with a pretrial officer, by phone and/or face-to-face, one to three times per week. Depending upon compliance within the first 30-day period, this frequency of contact may be reduced or increased. Additionally, they would be on their own to make it to court appearances (Austin, J., Krisberg, B. & Litsky, P., 1985). An intermediate level not only includes the basic level requirements, but may also include required visits to a probation office, or drug treatment, depending on the jurisdiction and needs of the defendant (Austin, J., Krisberg, B. & Litsky, P., 1985). High risk defendants may include both basic and intermediate levels of supervision, while also incorporating GPS monitoring and/or in-home visits (Austin, J., Krisberg, B. & Litsky, P.,

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