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Bail Reform

Writer’s Name
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Bail Reform

A system of pretrial bail has been adopted to devise the rules about authorizing the

pretrial release of defendants pending trial.

A just pretrial bail system includes:

 Pretrial arrest and release decisions basing on risk aimed at encouraging releasing

suspects, court appearance, and ensuring public safety.

 Legal structures that include issuing of least restrictive non-monetary release

restricting/prohibiting the use of secure financial criteria of release and detecting suspects

for clearly defined defendants.

 Suspected offenders illegible by law for pretrial release are given the release

consideration without any locally established exclusions not permitted by law.

 A collaborative group of stakeholders who value and implement the use of evidence-

based decision making.

 Experienced prosecutors who go through cases before their commencement.

A pretrial release system is important because it purports to maintain the judicial process'

integrity by securing the defendants for trial, by providing a due legal process to individuals

accused of criminal activity, and by protecting the victims, witnesses, and community from

interference, threat, or danger. There has been considerable debate over bail reform regarding

pretrial release for over 50 years especially since the Bail Reform Act of 1984. Recently the

rrepresentative Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts stated “One of my priorities is criminal

justice reform, and there is certainly bipartisan support for that” (Oakes & Fleming, 2018). It

means that bail reform is an important issue when it comes to pretrial release of defendants. The
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judge has the authority to release a defendant on an unsecured appearance bond or personal

recognizance and one or multiple conditions. Moreover, a judge may detain the defendant

temporarily, or detain him/her for long according to the standard procedures. If the adjudication

of charges is pending, it is generally favorable to release a defendant because the deprivation of

liberty, in that case, is considered oppressive and harsh which often subjects a defendant to

psychological and economic hardships, affects their defense, and in, some cases, strip their

families of support. Therefore, such a system is significant as it authorizes those defendants to

get bail or given pretrial release whose detention may cause more problems for him/her, the

associated family, and the general community.

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References

Oakes, B., & Fleming, W. (2018, August 29). Pressley Says Voters Have A Choice: Status Quo

Or Changing Washington. https://www.wbur.org/news/2018/08/29/status-quo-or-change-

ayanna-pressley