We have all heard the excuses and the witnessed the finger pointing.\u00a0 We have all heard the chants of those that support public sector pretrial release programs, “blame the bail bond industry…they are the reason that jails are crowded and the system is being unfair to those who need help.”\u00a0 While the voices chanting this nonsense are loud and widespread, it doesn’t make anything they are claiming true.\u00a0 In fact, their claims couldn’t be farther from the truth.\u00a0 The reality of our criminal justice system and the challenges posed by jail overcrowding have nothing to do with the commercial bail bond industry.\u00a0 People are not languishing away in jail because they cannot afford a bail bond.\u00a0Quite the opposite is true.\u00a0 Families and defendants today now have more options available to them to secure a bail bond for release.\u00a0 Flexible payment plans are now widely available to those families who can’t afford the full amount of the bond.<\/p>\n
This past week, there was a story out of Cook County, Illinois, complaining of jail overcrowding in the nation’s largest jail system.\u00a0 The interesting thing about this story is that Illinois is one of four states that does not allow commercial bail.\u00a0 So to say that commercial bail causes jail overcrowding is not just misleading but downright false.\u00a0 Check out the article below.<\/p>\n
Written by: Eric Granof<\/a><\/p>\n