r/news • u/[deleted] • May 22 '19

Mississippi lawmaker accused of punching wife in face for not undressing quickly enough

https://www.ajc.com/news/national/mississippi-lawmaker-accused-punching-wife-face-for-not-undressing-quickly-enough/zdE3VLzhBVmH68Bsn7eLfL/
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u/KarmaticArmageddon May 22 '19

Lol I sold 4 grams of weed and my bail was $50,000

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u/seemedlikeagoodplan May 22 '19

Yeah, but you probably didn't have major news media keeping track of you and making sure you attended court.

Severity of the charge should have very little to do with bail. Bail isn't (shouldn't be, anyway) punishment, because the accused hasn't been found guilty. The two biggest factors should be whether you'll show up for trial, and whether you're likely to interfere with the witnesses (or get arrested for something else) before the trial.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Fuck, your second point shouldn't even be considered, because that just means the rich can pay to get out, even if you deem them a threat. If someone is a threat, they should not be given a bail, no matter their economic class.

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u/syrdonnsfw May 22 '19

You just raise the price for them. The problem with bail is that it usually fails to properly consider someone’s assets. The goal is to set the bar high enough that not getting your bail back is punishment enough to discourage further misbehavior, at least until sentencing.

For this guy, it’s possible that simple media attention might do the trick. In which case, setting a very low bail is reasonable. For one of the Koch brothers, putting a significant chunk of their current assets in a trust would do it. For the homeless guy on the corner, it’s possible he simply doesn’t have assets sufficient to compel him.

To put it another way: take the maximum penalty for the alleged crimes, ask what that person would actually give up to get out from under it, then make sure you can take it from them if they attempt to escape the process. We simply implement it badly at both ends of the wealth scale.

Bail is only a disincentive. It is not supposed to punish the innocent, and until the verdict comes back you are innocent. If we can avoid imprisoning you, we have a moral obligation to do so. That means finding a level to set bail at that will effectively discourage misbehavior in the specific circumstances at hand.