How the Bail Industry Exploits the Legal System - Prison Policy initiative

One reason that the unconvicted population in the U.S. is so large (and growing daily) is because our country largely has a system of cash bail, in which the constitutionally-protected ideal of innocent until proven guilty only really applies to the well off. With cash bail, a defendant is required to pay a certain amount of money as a pledged guarantee that they will attend future court hearings. If the defendant is unable to come up with the money either personally or through a commercial bail bondsman, they can be incarcerated from their arrest until their case is resolved or dismissed in court.

When their clients do not appear in court, bail companies are supposed to fulfill their obligations and pay the “forfeited” bail bonds. But journalists and local government officials around the country have independently discovered that their particular city or county is owed thousands or even millions from bond agents for unpaid bail bonds that have been ordered forfeit. Many of these jurisdictions have yet to put together that this is not simply a local problem, but a systemic problem with commercial cash bail, and one that has been intentionally created by the bail industry to protect its profits.

A report from Prison Policy Initiative found that in at least 28 states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia), jurisdictions report serious problems with bond forfeitures.

Some examples:

• California: Estimates of the amount bond companies owe the state each year are well into the millions. In Los Angeles County, where over 99% of bonds are surety bonds, $1.1 million in forfeited bonds went unpaid in 2016-17. In San Francisco, too, officials estimate that bond agents successfully avoid paying “millions” of dollars owed to the court each year.
• Mississippi: As of 2016, private bail agents and companies owed an estimated $1.8 million in unpaid forfeitures. $372,000 was owed to Rankin County alone.
• Louisiana: One company alone owed Orleans Parish (New Orleans) nearly $1 million; officials in East Baton Rouge reported that bond agents owed them another $1 million.

Add another reason to the compelling arguments to abolish cash bail systems.

You can read the report titled "All profit, no risk: How the bail industry exploits the legal system" at Prison Policy Initiative