Keeping the Poor in Jail To Ensure Bail Bondsmen Face No Competition
NPR ran an important three part story last week on the half-million people sitting in jail — petty, nonviolent offenders who are there for only one reason — because they can’t make bail. It’s an expensive proposition; in Broward County, FL, for example, jail costs $115 a day per inmate.
A far cheaper alternative, a pretrial program in Broward costs about $7 a day. That program saved county taxpayers $20 million a year. And NPR found court records documenting that the defendants still showed up for their court dates.
But that, it turns out, was seen as a threat to the bail bondsmen. And they, it turns out, are a powerful special interest group. Bondsmen want to keep such programs as small and unproductive as possible. They hired a lobbyist. The lobbyist went to work. In short order the program was gutted.
With that Broward has become a model for bail bondsmen across the country. NPR found jails stuffed with inmates in Lubbock, TX:
“We take care of the ones who take care of us,” [Bondsman Ken] Herzog says. “We don’t want to pay anybody off, per se. We just want to support the people who are trying to help our business.”
According to Lubbock campaign records, bondsmen make frequent donations to elected officials. Indigent jail inmates do not.
It gets worse. Judges inflate bail, basing it on the amount the defendant pays to the bondsman; bondsmen don’t pay full bail for defendants who fail to appear. Oh, and that image of the bond agent out tracking down the no-shows? Not happening. It’s sheriffs and the police who bring in the vast majority of those who skip bail.
It’s impressive journalism. Check out all three parts.
6 Responses to “Keeping the Poor in Jail To Ensure Bail Bondsmen Face No Competition”
That's good law and order conservative government… Just the way Republicans like it…
That's good law and order conservative government… Just the way Republicans like it…
Another special interest group profiting off of the American taxpayer. One of these days…enough will be enough.
In addition, some private prisons were lobbying for stricter sentencing guidelines, and one got caught bribing a judge.
I absolutley love the way these NPR folks speak about things they have no idea about …..the bondsman who bails someone out of jail is FULLY responsible for the full amount of the bond ….if that inmate fails to appear …..HE is now a FUGITIVE ……and lets face it Law enforcement is far to busy protecting and serving thier benfactors..than to be out warrant hunting so the justice system BREAKS DOWN ……..and also in respect to the recapture of fugitives …I bring everyone of my fugitives back to the court …….i challenge anyone out there to contact me …..make some time to see how it is really done …..oh and the service i provide is at NO COST TO THE TAXPAYERS……hmmmmm that sounds like it would be appealing to financialy strapped counties and municipalites…..
Bail bondsmen provide a service to the community “at no cost to the taxpayers” that *directly* flows from county and municipality to the bail bondsmen, however, if it's documented that keeping someone in jail costs $115 vs. $7 for monitoring that person and making sure they appear for court, then the bail bonds system IS costing financially strapped counties and municipalities in the form of increased jail occupancy, upkeep, staffing.