oneMadRssn t1_iuhuhos wrote on October 31, 2022 at 1:28 PM

Reply to comment by Workacct1999 in They caught the Brighton Peeping Tom by capnlumps

Cash bail would make more sense if the bail amount was proportional to one's net worth. The theory or history behind cash bail is that it's a deposit to ensure you show up for your trial. Forcing someone to put up substantial amount of money that they would lose if they don't show up was a good way to ensure people could continue working while awaiting trial but also show up for trial back when 80% of the population were farmers, before the invention of airplanes, and before massive income inequality. Today, it makes no sense because for some people the bail amount is trivial and for others it's insurmountable, and the ease of skipping town makes it all irrelevant.

Workacct1999 t1_iui0qia wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:15 PM

That would work, but I still think that the entire bail system is foolish. You either are or you are not a threat or flight risk, finances should play no role in that.

oneMadRssn t1_iui1mer wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:22 PM

>You either are or you are not a threat or flight risk, finances should play no role in that.

Eh, life is not so binary. Most people are somewhere in the gray area between flight risk and not.

Again, I agree that cash bail doesn't work anymore today. Also, it's effectively become a privatization bail enforcement, which is sick on it's own.

We have better ways today.