Activists from the Washington, DC-based Equal Justice Under Law legal centre are calling for an end to cash-for-bail systems in county jails, which favour wealthy suspects. According to the centre, the 'two-tier' system sees wealthy and poorer suspects treated unequally in the criminal justice system, and as such may be in violation of the US Constitution. The latest lawsuit filed in San Francisco takes the form of a class action on behalf of arrested individuals who, due to their inability to cover their own bail using cash or collateral assets, have been incarcerated while they await trial or steeply indebted to bail bond companies in order to avoid jail time. The centre has so far filed nine lawsuits across seven states and has settled four, with smaller jails agreeing to drop cash bail requirements for most charges.
Two-tier justice
While the US federal system generally allows those suspected of nonviolent crimes to walk free without bail while they await trial, EJUL founder Phil Telfeyan suggests that cash bail requirements for nonviolent crimes are enforced by a majority of county jails in all fifty US states. Allowing nonviolent suspects to await trial on the outside could save San Francisco millions of dollars and avoid those financial costs – such as loss of employment or nonrefundable bond company fees – from which those who can pay for their own bail are immune.
'The bail system in most states is a two-tier system,' said Mr Telfeyan. 'One for the wealthy and one for everyone else.' In January, lawyers from the EJUL centre will request that San Francisco's cash bail system be temporarily suspended until the lawsuit is resolved. Source: The Guardian
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