The Bail Profession: Building Circles of Accountability Commercial bail is often discussed in terms of financial guarantees and court appearances, but the bail profession involves far more than posting a bond. Licensed bail agents regularly work with defendants, families, indemnitors, employers and community members to…
Part 2: Stack v. Boyle: How the Supreme Court Affirmed Financial Accountability in Bail In 1951, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Stack v. Boyle that continues to shape bail law and policy more than seven decades later. While the case is…
Part 1: Taylor v. Taintor: The Landmark Supreme Court Case That Legitimized Surety Bail in America The bail profession has a long history. From biblical times to the modern era, bail has played an essential role in balancing individual liberty with the need to ensure…
Part 6: Houston Police Officers’ Union (2022), Harris County Court Watch Pretrial release reform has become one of the most controversial issues in criminal justice policy, with advocates arguing that unsecured release creates a fairer system while critics warn it reduces accountability and increases public…
Part 5: Reisig (2023) – Yolo County’s Zero Bail Study Zero Bail Produced Significantly Higher Rates of Reoffending Compelling Evidence That Financially Secured Surety Bonds Deliver Superior Public Safety Outcomes This study serves as the fifth installment in our “Six Most Significant Bail Studies” and…
Part 4: Dr. Michael Block – The Effectiveness and Cost of Secured vs Unsecured Release Block, “The Effectiveness and Cost of Secured and Unsecured Release in California’s Large Urban Counties” (2005) Powerful Evidence for the Effectiveness and Cost Savings of Financially Secured Surety Bonds The…
The Misleading Pretrial Numbers Game How Cashless Bail Supporters Inflate Court Appearance Stats In the heated debate over cashless bail policies, supporters routinely highlight impressive court appearance rates, often claiming 85% to 95% success or higher, as evidence that releasing defendants without money bail or…
Part 3: Dr. Robert Morris Dr. Robert Morris (2013/2014) / Clipper, Morris & Russell-Kaplan (2017) – Dallas County, Texas Pretrial Release Study In Part 3 of our series, The Six Most Significant Bail Studies, we look at a powerful study done in Dallas County, Texas,…
Part 2: Helland & Tabarrok, The Fugitive Evidence on Public Versus Private Law Enforcement from Bail Jumping (2004) In the ongoing debate over bail reform and pretrial release, one question stands out: What actually works best at getting defendants back to court? The second bail…
Part 1: The Cohen & Reaves Study The Most Comprehensive Pretrial Release Analysis Ever Conducted and Why Its Findings Remain Unrivaled Pretrial Release of Felony Defendants in State Courts, 1990–2004 In November 2007, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) statisticians Thomas H. Cohen, Ph.D., and Brian…
