The post Abolish Bail Bonds? is republished from http://PowerLiftingCA.com
I recently had a not so fun experience. My little brother came to visit here in Georgia and was out on New Years Eve and got into trouble. I got a call around 5 a.m. with him informing me that he had been arrested and need me to get him out. I had no idea what to do, so I went to the internet to find out. I found a lot of information and a great bail bonds service - Get Outta Jail GA, to help me post bond. His bond was 10k, and I had to pay the bondsman 1k that was non refundable to get him out. I was fine with that because my only other choice was to go ahead and give the court the full 10k and have to wait until his trial was finished, at which time I could get back the money. For me I would rather just pay out 1k and not get it back than tie up a full 10k and not know how many months it would be before I got it back. I also know that my brother could pay me back the 1k and not be able to do the 10k. 
But in my searching on line I came across something that I thought was kind of ridiculous. There is a push to abolish bail bonds, and I think it is not a really good idea, since I just had to use the system and it helped me. The gripe of the law suit is that the bail bonds service industry is for the rich and penalizes the poor. I really don't think this is a fair assessment. Their thought is that the poor have to come up with the money to post bail while the rich that have savings can post bail and keep moving on with their lives. I understand there are some bad apples out there in the bail bonds industry, and one bad one can give the entire industry a bad name. But to me it's also like used cars. There are a lot of shady used car dealers out there, but should we abolish all used car dealerships. The heart of this law suit is about a woman who was arrested, had to post bail and then within a day the DA decided not to press charges, while the bail bonds company still insists that she needs to pay the 10% of the bail the they put up to get her released. This is kind of a sticky situation here, I understand the young woman's point of view as well as the bondsman's point of view. Here is a short snippet from the article -
SAN FRANCISCO —
Crystal Patterson didn't have the cash or assets to post $150,000 bail and get out of jail after her arrest for assault in October. So Patterson, 39, promised to pay a bail bonds company $15,000 plus interest to put up the $150,000 bail for her, allowing to go home and care for her invalid grandmother. The day after her release, the district attorney decided not to pursue charges. But Patterson still owes the bail bonds company. Criminal justice reformers and lawyers at a nonprofit Washington, D.C., legal clinic say that is unconstitutionally unfair. The lawyers have filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Patterson, Rianna Buffin and other jail inmates who argue that San Francisco and California's bail system unconstitutionally treats poor and wealthy suspects differently. Wealthy suspects can put up their houses or other valuable assets — or simply write a check — to post bail and stay out of jail until their cases are resolved. Poorer suspects aren't so lucky. Many remain behind bars or pay nonrefundable fees to bail bonds companies.
Click Here To Read The Full Story So my take on it is that the system should not be abolished. It does help. What it really comes down to is that once again the "rich" are being made a scapegoat. Just because someone works their ass off and makes a living it makes the whole thing unfair. I'm calling BS! What will happen if they abolish the system? Will they just let people go on their own promise to show up for court? I don't think so. And who is going to make sure they show up? I think the bondsman are doing the courts AND TAXPAYERS a great service by doing this and making sure they show up for court. They should be paid for their services. If the bondsman didn't do it then the government would have to use government employees to get the job done, which in turn would probably raise taxes. Really I think in the story above that Patterson's beef should be with the DA and the officers that arrested her in the first place. The bondsman did their job and should be paid. With me,
Get Outta Jail GA Bondsman for Cobb did right by me and I can't thank them enough. They were extremely friendly and helpful. I would hate to see great people like this that do such a great service for the community to be put out of a job. Lawyers should stop and think about what they are doing before they start throwing law suits around. I guarantee that if they were to be arrested and need a bondsman they would change their tune. The system probably wouldn't be unfair then!
But in my searching on line I came across something that I thought was kind of ridiculous. There is a push to abolish bail bonds, and I think it is not a really good idea, since I just had to use the system and it helped me. The gripe of the law suit is that the bail bonds service industry is for the rich and penalizes the poor. I really don't think this is a fair assessment. Their thought is that the poor have to come up with the money to post bail while the rich that have savings can post bail and keep moving on with their lives. I understand there are some bad apples out there in the bail bonds industry, and one bad one can give the entire industry a bad name. But to me it's also like used cars. There are a lot of shady used car dealers out there, but should we abolish all used car dealerships. The heart of this law suit is about a woman who was arrested, had to post bail and then within a day the DA decided not to press charges, while the bail bonds company still insists that she needs to pay the 10% of the bail the they put up to get her released. This is kind of a sticky situation here, I understand the young woman's point of view as well as the bondsman's point of view. Here is a short snippet from the article -
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