Civic · 6 pages · 12 min
Why cash bail is a policy about money
Cash bail uses a payment as the condition of release, so wealth helps decide who waits outside.
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From the opening
Cash bail makes a sum of money the key that opens the jail door before trial. Two people with the same charge and the same assessed risk can face different liberty if one can pay and the other cannot. The opening covers a posted sum opens the door, equal charges can mean unequal liberty, and bond fees are often not returned.
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Inside
- A posted sum opens the door
- Equal charges can mean unequal liberty
- Bond fees are often not returned
- Non-money conditions are a different policy
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Cash bail
- Commercial bail bond