[PapayaTapper]

(08-29-2018 08:12 AM)Repo Wrote:  

Ok somebody correct me if I'm wrong. But isnt this really not much different from how the system worked in the first place? Thought anyone could have bail denied, and if you were considered high risk they would just set a ridiculously expensive bail that they knew you couldn't afford. So before the bill and after it's still up to the court if you have to go to jail, the means in which it happens is just different now.

I think the difference will be in the "all or nothing" nature of the process. It just seems too arbitrary in nature. Anyone set free on their own recognizance has no monetary incentive to show up for court (I realize that now that person becomes a fugitive and thats another issue altogether) But I predict an increase in "failure to appears" which will lead to increase pressure to detain.

The whole "innocent until proven guilty" theory is already a sham and this will make it worse. If youre already being deprived of your liberty without having been convicted of anything then being just charged is essentially a sentence. Whats the difference between convicted an yet to be convicted? Both are sitting literally next to each other

By the way, many DA offices already boast about their "95 % conviction rates". DA's are elected. Everone wants a DA that's tough on crime...right?

What they dont advertise is that the overwhelming vast majority of "convictions" are plea deals. (Nationally I thinks its less than 1% of felony cases go to trial) The system is designed to grind people caught in between a rock and a hard place. If youre an average Joe that gets charged with something and are looking a few years in prison if you go to trial and lose vs probation and fines if you take a deal...most people will "take the deal"...even if completely innocent because the stakes are too high.

This development is actually just another mechanism that cranks leverage into the prosecutions side of the system. If you cant get out, you cant work, pay your rent / mortgage, you lose your job , you have no hope of hiring and paying to defend yourself...you have to take their deal