Hacker News Reader

Comment by xeromal | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, bail is basically a deposit promise that you'll come to the trial when it comes up. Some trials take a few months to a year or two to come up on the docket depending on how busy they are.

Bail is usually proportional to your crime and there are businesses that will pay your bail if you give them 10%. They take the risk and will send a bounty hunter after you if you skip bail.

Some states like California are testing out non-cash bails which is probably similar to what Germany does. If you do something evil like murder, you stay in jail until your trial. If you're harmless and not looking to escape the country, they let you go.

View on HN

To be clear: bail is not for criminals, it's for people accused of a crime.

Which is not to say if you commit murder, you go to jail without bail.

It's if you're accused of murder and made to stand trial, then you go to jail without bail, regardless of if you're guilty or not.

Really messes with poor people because if they don't have bail money, they either:

1. Sit in jail for a few months, unable to work, while their bills pile up, kids go uncared for, and rent is due.

2. Pay 10% of bail to a bail bondsman, who keeps the money regardless of if the accused is innocent or guilty, just so they have the privilege of walking free while awaiting trial for a crime they may or may not have committed.

Thank you for highlighting some of these distinctions.

It seems like in online discussions, and especially in the recent US midterm cycle where crime was said to be an issue, and hell, I've even seen this when I've been called for jury duty ... Many people seemingly do not understand that police or a district attorney accusing someone of a crime is not the same as guilt.

I would say even that many times a conviction doesn't really mean that. We as a country accuse and convict a lot of innocent people, have an unfair punishment mentality, often charge in excess of a person's actual misdeed, etc.

And all of these problems and more are amplified when the accused doesn't have resources to fight it.

> Bail is usually proportional to your crime

I think it is supposed to be tied to how likely you might be to flee. So a rich person accused of a crime that could lead to the death penalty would have huge bail. (Or likely not be given bail at all.). A poor person accused of a minor crime would likely have a very low bail.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com