One of the most important elements of the ROR system is a determination of whether the person being freed will attempt to flee the state or country in order to avoid prosecution. One study showed that nearly 30 percent of the defendants released on their own recognizance failed to appear in court. Among those who were ROR, 10 percent had yet to be apprehended a year after being freed, compared to only 3 percent of those released on bail.
The relatively low rates of flight of those participating in the New York program have not been duplicated elsewhere, the higher rates experienced in them being attributed to inefficiencies in both the selection process and the monitoring of the defendants.
In an attempt to reduce flight, some programs have incorporated related services, including drug treatment and constant monitoring.
Pretrial release programs are also useful in reducing prison overcrowding. They are less than popular among bail agents, who rely upon criminal defendants for their incomes, and members of the public, who are leery of mingling with others who may later be found guilty of crimes. Balancing these issues, pretrial release programs will continue to be a part of the American system of justice.
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Unfortunately, this data is not enough to discourage ineffective pretrial release programs. Other arguments for and against As the PJI mentions, "the value of these release types can be judged by other factor: do we want to continue to allow potentially dangerous defendants to buy their way out of jail?
Do we want to low risk indigent defendants to take up expensive jail space because they cannot afford the services of bail bondsmen?
Ironically, this is one of the issues pretrial release programs were supposed to mitigate. Candace McCoy emphasizes this in her review of Caleb Foote's ideas of criminal justice, focusing on the pretrial program in Philadelphia that included "Treatment Courts. McCoy expresses the double standard in this practice, saying, "In the name of humane reform of bail practices and therapeutic help for druggies, the Philadelphia courts have designed a system in which an entire class of offenders are subjected to intrusive state control while on release and while they have not been convicted of anything emphasis author's own.
Despite these flaws, pretrial release programs are still spreading around the country Apparently the programs are not spreading as fast as they used to - the Department of Justice has stated that in surety bond surpassed ROR as the most popular type of pretrial release. While the public should not support pretrial release programs that are not effective and essentially incriminate suspects before trial, bail agents have even more incentive to band together to fight the spread of pretrial release programs.
Not only do pretrial release programs affect the safety of the community, but they also affect the livelihood of the estimated 14, bail agents nationwide. Perhaps this is why defendants released on surety bonds have a lower failure to appear rate and a higher recovery rate; whereas police officers do not have a lot of incentive to recover fugitives, bail agents' livelihoods depend on it.
The truth of the matter is that pretrial release programs are here to stay. As previously noted, it is almost impossible to reconcile the philosophical arguments against commercial bail it is unjust to indigent defendants who cannot afford a bondsman and the practical commercial bail is statistically more effective. However, there are ways that bail agents can work with and around pretrial release programs, in addition to fighting the addition of pretrial release programs in their area.
First of all, the old adage about strength in numbers is true - you cannot have a strong political voice unless a lot of voices are speaking in unison. If you are not a member of your local or state bail association, now is the time to join. Reach out to more than just bail agents as well. Befriend local judges and see what needs to be done to encourage surety bail.
Another way of dealing with pretrial release programs is by working with them. Salvador Rivas and Dr. Diana Wilson recently wrote an article for the Florida Surety Agents Association outlining how pretrial programs and surety agents could work together to create an effective form of pretrial release that benefited both surety agents and defendants.
In their plan, bail agents would continue to write bail as always, giving defendants the opportunity to choose who supervises their release and increasing the likelihood a defendant will appear in court.
Pretrial agents can supplement surety bail by providing counseling for at-risk defendants with multiple arrests, defendants with substance abuse problems, and families of defendants.
In addition, pretrial agents can oversee pretrial release of indigent defendants who cannot afford even low bail. By allowing surety agents to lighten the work load of pretrial agents that tend to be spread to thin, pretrial release programs can increase their effectiveness while providing counseling services to defendants who may need it.
This symbiotic relationship works "to the benefit of the defendant [and] to insure that justice and community safety are at the forefront. While overcrowded jails is one of the most popular justifications given as to why pretrial release programs are necessary, there does not seem to be a lot of action in decreasing the country's incarceration rate.
In fact, the inverse is true, with three-strike programs and lengthy mandatory sentencing requirements for drug offenders only serving to increase the jail population. While incarceration rates could theoretically decrease with stricter qualifications for three-strike programs and rehabilitation instead of incarceration for drug offenders, there is still the philosophical question that will continue the pretrial release debate, as phrased by Helland and Tabarrok: "How should the probability of failing to appear and all the cost this implies, including higher crime rates, be traded-off against the injustice of imprisoning the innocent or even the injustice of imprisoning the not yet proven guilty?
It is essential that bail agents stay educated on this issue and work together to continue to fight the prevalence of ineffective pretrial release programs. Let customers know you're a pre-screened, trusted agent. Add a badge to your website or marketing materials. CollateralMag azine.
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