Comments on: The Constitution of the United States: The Bill of Rights http://josephscott.org/archives/2009/01/the-constitution-of-the-united-states-the-bill-of-rights/ Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:43:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Brandon Savage http://josephscott.org/archives/2009/01/the-constitution-of-the-united-states-the-bill-of-rights/#comment-863 Brandon Savage Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:28:47 +0000 http://josephscott.org/?p=637#comment-863 Most definitely. But the beauty of the system is that we presume your innocence to such a degree that we free you from custody for all but the most heinous crimes. It really says a lot about our system of justice. Most definitely. But the beauty of the system is that we presume your innocence to such a degree that we free you from custody for all but the most heinous crimes. It really says a lot about our system of justice.

]]> By: Joseph Scott http://josephscott.org/archives/2009/01/the-constitution-of-the-united-states-the-bill-of-rights/#comment-862 Joseph Scott Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:47:05 +0000 http://josephscott.org/?p=637#comment-862 The potential to abuse the bail process would certainly be high. Taking a step back it's an interesting concept, allowing someone to still have a high degree of freedom while trying to convict them. The potential to abuse the bail process would certainly be high. Taking a step back it’s an interesting concept, allowing someone to still have a high degree of freedom while trying to convict them.

]]> By: Brandon Savage http://josephscott.org/archives/2009/01/the-constitution-of-the-united-states-the-bill-of-rights/#comment-861 Brandon Savage Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:15:23 +0000 http://josephscott.org/?p=637#comment-861 Regarding bail... We have a presumption of innocence until you're proven guilty (or at least, that's how it's supposed to work). Since you're innocent until proven otherwise, you shouldn't be forced to be incarcerated until trial, right? What if you're acquitted? The state has unreasonably taken your liberty. But we need some way to compel you to show up at your trial, rather than having you just run off. Bail is a surrender of personal assets (temporarily) until you can be tried. It's a guarantee (in tangible assets) that you'll show up - and in fact it's lost entirely if you skip bail (in addition to you being hunted down and tried anyway). The prohibition on excessive bail was to ensure that judges wouldn't set a bail amount that was so high defendants couldn't make bail, just to force them to sit in jail. While bail amounts are determined based on the severity of the crime and your likelihood to flee, most of them are set by statute, to ensure fair application. It's really a remarkable system. We do what we can to free even those who will later be found guilty in order to ensure that those who are innocent are not unfairly held. Regarding bail…

We have a presumption of innocence until you’re proven guilty (or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work). Since you’re innocent until proven otherwise, you shouldn’t be forced to be incarcerated until trial, right? What if you’re acquitted? The state has unreasonably taken your liberty.

But we need some way to compel you to show up at your trial, rather than having you just run off. Bail is a surrender of personal assets (temporarily) until you can be tried. It’s a guarantee (in tangible assets) that you’ll show up – and in fact it’s lost entirely if you skip bail (in addition to you being hunted down and tried anyway).

The prohibition on excessive bail was to ensure that judges wouldn’t set a bail amount that was so high defendants couldn’t make bail, just to force them to sit in jail. While bail amounts are determined based on the severity of the crime and your likelihood to flee, most of them are set by statute, to ensure fair application.

It’s really a remarkable system. We do what we can to free even those who will later be found guilty in order to ensure that those who are innocent are not unfairly held.

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