"The issue should t be how much an inmate pays in bail but whether they should remain in jail to protect the public safety."
But those are two separate questions. Someone murders a dozen people and they will be held without bail. Someone who 'merely' assaults or rapes someone will get a cash bail amount just like someone who is arrested…
"The issue should t be how much an inmate pays in bail but whether they should remain in jail to protect the public safety."
But those are two separate questions. Someone murders a dozen people and they will be held without bail. Someone who 'merely' assaults or rapes someone will get a cash bail amount just like someone who is arrested for drug use. The amount will differ of course, but then again, so will the defendant's resources. We're currently letting out violent people with means and locking up (at great cost) non-violent people without means. Not only is that unequal justice, it is also making us less safe than we could be with a better system.
"The issue should t be how much an inmate pays in bail but whether they should remain in jail to protect the public safety."
But those are two separate questions. Someone murders a dozen people and they will be held without bail. Someone who 'merely' assaults or rapes someone will get a cash bail amount just like someone who is arrested for drug use. The amount will differ of course, but then again, so will the defendant's resources. We're currently letting out violent people with means and locking up (at great cost) non-violent people without means. Not only is that unequal justice, it is also making us less safe than we could be with a better system.