Personally, I'm okay with high bonds for violent offenders, specially if they have priors. We've seen too many victims (mostly women) living in fear because scumbags get out easily.
There isn't supposed to be a connection between amount of bail and safety, if someone is a danger they are meant to be held in custody. Bail is only supposed to guarantee presence at trial.
If there's any truth to what I was just told is happening in New York and a lot of people aren't showing up because no bail, there's a problem. I'd be interested in seeing a study to that effect.
Question: You talked about the constitutional aspects of bonds in this thread, but the accused are illegal immigrants. Do you think they hold the same rights as citizens? I've had a few arguments on that subject with a buddy and I wonder what your take is.
My strictly amateur opinion would be that it depends. First amendment yes, second amendment no. I think anything on the level of human rights should apply to everyone, but some things are probably specific to citizens.
I think the eighth should definitely apply to everyone.
Eighth Amendment: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
I think bail is currently completely broken in America which is why they have the highest percentage of incarcerated citizens in the world. The vast majority of people in prison pled to a crime, and far too many did so because they had no choice. They couldn't afford bail, the time they were going to be jailed waiting for trial ruined their lives anyways, and they couldn't take the risk of losing at trial and the much longer sentence at play.
That problem is EXACTLY why the eighth amendment exists. I don't think citizenship should matter where human rights are concerned. However... If an illegal immigrant presents a flight risk or isn't likely to appear at trial, that should be reflected in bail amount.
Slightly off topic, I'm surprised nobody is talking about the Jan 6 defendants in this thread. It's my understanding many of them were held without bail and I don't really understand why. The left doesn't care about them and the right has martyred them, so the truth isn't obvious. All I can say is the eighth applies to them also.
