Miley Cyrus and Los Angeles Bail Bonds: 10 Surprising Things They Have in Common
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a felony defendant to appear for trial or pay a sum of cash set by the court. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who charges the defendant a price in return for guaranteeing the cost. The bail bond is a type of surety bond.
The industrial bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines. In different nations, bail may entail a set of restrictions and circumstances placed on prison defendants in return for their launch until 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 court docket.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will seem for trial.
·Judges typically have huge latitude in setting bail amounts.
·Bail bondsmen generally cost 10% of the bail amount up entrance in return for their service and will charge extra charges. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is extensively considered as discriminatory to low-earnings defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of young African-American men.
How a Bail Bond Works
A person who's charged with a criminal offense is usually given a bail hearing before a choose. The quantity of the bail is on the decide's discretion. A judge may deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical stage if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or seems more likely to be a flight risk.
Judges typically have vast latitude in setting bail quantities, and typical amounts vary by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor may see bail set at $500. Felony crime fees have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or more not unusual.
The business bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines.
As soon Click here! as the quantity of the bail is about, the defendant's choices are to stay in jail till the charges are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail quantity in full until the case is resolved. In the last occasion, courts in some jurisdictions settle for title to a home or different collateral of worth in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, also known as bail bond agents, provide written agreements to prison courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they assure fail to seem on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen generally cost 10% of the bail amount up front in return for his or her service and will charge additional charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
The agent may require a statement of creditworthiness or could demand that the defendant flip over collateral in the type of property or securities. Bail bondsmen usually accept most property of worth, together with cars, jewellery, and homes as well as shares and bonds.
As soon as the bail or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is released until trial.
The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System
The bail bond system has grow to be part of the larger debate over mass incarceration, particularly of young African-American men, within the U.S.
The bail bond system is considered by many even in the authorized career to be discriminatory, because it requires low-revenue defendants to stay in jail or scrape collectively a ten% cash price and the rest of the bail-in collateral—even before they stand trial for any crime. PrisonPolicy.org says that about 536,000 persons are being held in jails in the U.S. because they can not afford bail or a bail bondsman's providers.
Four states together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and instead require a ten% deposit on the bail quantity to be lodged with the court. In 2018, California voted to eradicate cash bail necessities from its courtroom system.