Criminal justice systems and principles

Criminal Justice

The issue of bail in the federal and state legal systems is a matter that has been gong through a lot of debate and formal discussions as to what levels should they be applied and the amount to be charged for bail and also who does not qualify for the bail. Simply put, bail is when a defendant is released upon depositing the stipulated amount by the court, before his case is fully determined.

The entitlement to bonds is stipulated under the eighth amendment of the constitution and each state determines who is illegible to bail and who is not. For instance in Alabama all criminals are entitled to bail except those on capital offences with overwhelming evidence.

The statistics behind the issuance of bonds is as mind boggling as the reasons themselves. It is noted in varying researches that the percentage of bond release and even the set amounts could vary depending on the race of the criminal. For instance the black defendants are more likely to get lower bail rates than the white defendants. It is also estimated that at the federal level that non-Hispanics are likely to be accorded bail in 66% of the cases as opposed to the Hispanics who are likely to get bail in 26% of the cases only (Byrne, M.J., 2009).

The same research by Byrne places the proportion of defendants on bail at the state levels in the 75 of the largest counties at 60%. This means therefore that majority of the defendants at the state level just like in the federal cases are not in the custody of the authorities before their cases are concluded in court.

Though the releases are not done randomly and the defendants who apply for bail are assessed and classified to be at a lesser rate of recidivism while in pre-trial release, there is a general feeling that the rates of release are too high. At the 66% and 60% of federal and state releases respectively, it spells a doom to the justice system and the society at large.

There are several arguments that have been put forth as to why the release of defendants keeps climbing each day. The one factor that stands out when the idea of bail is brought up is the lack of capacity and space for the federal and state retention centers. Most states do not have the capacity to hold many criminals in custody who are awaiting trial as well as those already incarcerated. For this reason they decide to set free those still on trial until their cases are duly determined.

The other reason could be because of lack of overwhelming evidence to keep a rogue criminal in court. Though one may have committed a serious offence, they may be given the benefit of doubt by the court in form of bail, as they await more evidence form the investigating agencies, hence contributing to the high levels of defendants' release.