{"id":8711,"date":"2017-12-06T09:18:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T17:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stagewww.aiasurety.com\/bail\/?p=8711"},"modified":"2017-12-06T09:18:24","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T17:18:24","slug":"no-place-victims-criminal-justice-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aiasurety.com\/bail\/no-place-victims-criminal-justice-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"No Place For Victims in Criminal Justice Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.aiasurety.com\/bail\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/missing-Justice-245x300.jpg\")
For the past several months I have been lucky enough to do some work with a woman who is a true advocate for justice.\u00a0 She spends countless hours trying to defend those people who can\u2019t defend themselves.\u00a0 She gives up her personal time to make sure that those in trouble always have a person to talk to.\u00a0 She spends every last dime she has to make sure that nobody goes without during the Holidays. Why does she do it? Because without her, there would be no one else. In my mind, she is the best kind of hero and advocate.\u00a0 She is an advocate for victims of crime.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
You would think that everyone would want to meet a person like this.\u00a0 Everyone would want to help someone like this and help as many people as possible.\u00a0 You would think that even the government would want to make sure that someone like this has the resources they need to help hundreds, if not thousands, of people this holiday season.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the sad reality is that someone like my friend struggles to get the resources she needs to do the amount of good she is capable of. Why?\u00a0 Because right now in our society, the person receiving the help isn\u2019t the crime victim but rather the person who has perpetrated the crime.\u00a0 Societies heart strings are pulled not for the family who has been robbed, but for the so called \u201cpoor\u201d criminal who supposedly was only stealing to feed their family (even though they weren\u2019t caught stealing food).<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
Even this past week watching the tragic Kate Steinle verdict… the narrative was all around whether the accused was going to be able to get a fair trial, as opposed to whether the Steinle family was able to get a fair trial.\u00a0 In my opinion, this is a perfect example of the focus being put on the wrong person.\u00a0 Please don\u2019t get me wrong.\u00a0 All people need to be treated fairly, but we can\u2019t put aside common sense and tip toe around political correctness at the expense of the life of a young innocent woman.\u00a0 It is wrong, and it is unjust.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
We are in a dangerous place as a society and as a country.\u00a0 In our attempt to help those who are in trouble, we have gone too far and distorted our view of right and wrong.\u00a0 Instead of teaching our children not to break the law, we have decided to create excuses for why people break the law.\u00a0 And instead of holding these people accountable, we have decided to lower the bar of accountability as to not offend or discriminate against them.\u00a0 We have created a culture of excuses, where people can do whatever they want and face no repercussions for their actions.\u00a0 All the while, the real victims sit in silence being re-victimized over and over again, wondering where are the leaders that promised to protect them\u2026where are the laws that exist to keep them safe from the bad guys?<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
As I start my fifth paragraph of this novel, you are probably wondering what in the world this blog has to do with bail reform.\u00a0 My answer is it has everything to do with bail reform.\u00a0 The Bail Reform Movement (as they call it) has a narrative built around false stats and misguided advocacy.\u00a0 It bases its arguments simply and incorrectly on race, wealth and social justice and ignores the basic rules of law.\u00a0 We are quickly slipping away down a path of lawlessness and crime in this country.\u00a0 No better example of this than with Senate Bill 10 in California.\u00a0 This criminal friendly bill will be the final nail in the coffin for public safety. Over the past 5 years, what was once the great state of California has become a haven for criminals willing to break the law.\u00a0 The citizens of California have had to listen to the false narrative of criminal justice reform and have been duped by our elected officials into passing some of the most dangerous and ineffective public policies ever.\u00a0 Thanks to AB109, Proposition 47 and Proposition 57 public safety has become a thing of the past and criminals roam the streets committing crime after crime with no recourse.\u00a0 I am not sure why our leaders are making such poor decisions, but these continuous soft-on-crime policies are making it pretty much impossible for bad guys to do anything wrong\u2026especially since we keep redrawing lines they shouldn\u2019t cross.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
The bail industry has become the easy target of this progressive soft-on-crime bail reform movement.\u00a0 Our crime is simply being a for-profit industry in the criminal justice system.\u00a0 That is it.\u00a0 Couple that with a bad guy image that has been created for us by Hollywood and you have the perfect scapegoat for why people are locked up in jail.\u00a0 It is because of the greedy, capitalistic for-profit bail industry.\u00a0 The reality, however, is far less dramatic than that and it is pretty much based on common sense.\u00a0 People are in jail because they are accused of committing a crime.\u00a0 That is it\u2026the facts and nothing but the facts.\u00a0 But that common sense fact throws these social justice advocates into a tizzy.\u00a0 That is why they fight it so fiercely.\u00a0 They combat common sense with make believe fairy tales of good hardworking poor people who are only being locked up because society wasn\u2019t good enough to them.\u00a0 They spin false narratives like, \u201cpoor people are being locked in cages.\u201d\u00a0They say, \u201cpeople are innocent until proven guilty and are being held while they have not been convicted of a crime.\u201d\u00a0 They say, we are greedy, international insurance conglomerates making money off poor minority communities.\u201d\u00a0 The list of anti-bail talking points goes on from here and you don\u2019t have to look far to read an online story about how horrible the bail industry is how they are responsible for all the ills of society.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
The reality of the criminal justice system is much different than the tall tales being spun by the anti-bail advocates.\u00a0 People aren\u2019t locked in cages because of race or wealth\u2026they are held because they have been accused of a crime.\u00a0 They are being held not in violation of the doctrine of \u201cinnocent until proven guilty,\u201d but rather because they were arrested based on probable cause from a law enforcement officer.\u00a0 Bail agents aren\u2019t taking advantage of women, minorities and poor communities, but rather the bail industry is helping those underserved groups secure the release of a love one while maintaining a promise to the court and the community of that defendant\u2019s appearance in court.\u00a0 A promise which is the true fulcrum of the scales of justice that perfectly balances the rights of the defendant and the rights of the community.\u00a0 An important fact behind why the bail industry is so essential to our justice system.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
In order to be successful, the advocates must paint our industry with the evil brush and position us as the primary source of all incarceration in this country.\u00a0 They must also be able to position the criminal as the victim so that society feels so guilty they will do everything they can to help them. \u00a0Unfortunately, these false \u201cvictim\u201d and \u201cevil bail bond industry \u201cnarratives have caught on with legislators and Chief Justices around the country at the expense of the bail industry and most importantly, victims and public safety.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
That being said, I think people are starting to wake up to the reality of increased crime and the lunacy of this false narrative.\u00a0 People are beginning to see public safety go away in their communities.\u00a0 People are starting to realize that when you give career criminals too much leeway and excuses they will continue to victimize the community.\u00a0 That is why 30 cities in California are banding together and saying, \u201cNO MORE.\u201d\u00a0 That is why business and retail leaders are standing up and saying NO MORE!\u00a0 That is why law enforcement and judges are standing up and saying NO MORE!\u00a0 This is why we all must stand up and say NO MORE!\u00a0 NO MORE excuses for the criminals.\u00a0 NO MORE lack of accountability for breaking the law.\u00a0 And NO MORE soft-on-crime policies like SB10.\u00a0 Californians must put their foot down and let their leaders know that they are tired of crime.\u00a0 They are tired of feeling unsafe.\u00a0 Californians need to let their leaders know that they want the money and the resources to go to the real victims of crime.\u00a0 Californians need to let their leaders know that people committing crimes are not victims and they should be punished appropriately and held accountable.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t rocket science folks.\u00a0 It is common sense.\u00a0 It is right versus wrong.\u00a0 It is time for our decision makers to put things back in perspective and focus on public safety and taking care of victims of crime.\u00a0 The bail industry is not the problem.\u00a0 The use of money in the criminal justice system isn\u2019t the problem.\u00a0 CRIME is the problem.\u00a0 Instead of giving excuses to criminals and teaching our kids to be unaccountable for their actions, we need to educate and enlighten them about not committing crimes in the first place.\u00a0 Instead, let\u2019s focus on education and families.\u00a0 Let\u2019s focus on giving everyone the opportunities they need to be successful.\u00a0 When we can stop the crime problem, we won\u2019t have an incarceration problem.\u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
Then, and only then, we can begin to make sure that the people who commit themselves to helping victims of crime have the things they need to help others heal and survive.\u00a0 If you are going to reform the criminal justice system, there needs to be a place for victims.<\/p>\n
\nEric Granof<\/a> is the Vice President of Corporate Communications for AIA Surety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF For the past several months I have been lucky enough to do some work with a woman who is a true advocate for justice.\u00a0 She spends countless hours trying to defend those people who can\u2019t defend themselves.\u00a0 She gives… <\/p>\n