The Founding Fathers incorporated many common law principles, traditions and concepts into the legal structure of the new nation. So it was no real surprise that bail - which had been a common law staple for nearly a thousand years - wound up being included in the Bill of Rights where the 8th Amendment states unequivocally that “Excessive bail shall not be required…” Today, there is a robust debate underway over just what constitutes “excessive...

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While the 8th Amendment to the Constitution protects the accused against “excessive” bail it doesn’t really go any further than that. There are no other mentions of bail in the Constitution, no explicit right to bail spelled out or guidelines for the various states to follow. Just a quick mention that “Excessive bail shall not be required…” That’s it. As a result, the nature of bail is different as you move from state to state. Some states have...

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Until they’ve had their day in court a person who has been arrested has done nothing wrong as far as the law is concerned. So keeping them locked up under such circumstances is just not right. And that’s where bail bonds come in. Bail allows the accused to resume their normal life while awaiting trial. But does that mean you can do whatever you like if you’re out on bail? What if, for instance, you had an international vacation already planned...

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Police in the US made more than 13,000,000 arrests last year. Many of those arrests were for infractions that required a person to be bailed out unless they wanted to spend perhaps months in jail while awaiting their day in court. Most people are familiar with the concept of bail although many harbor misconceptions and questions about how it actually works. One of the biggest issues on the minds of people who bail out loved ones is this: “What...

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Unlike many things to do with the justice system the bail bonds process is actually pretty straightforward. Should a person run afoul of the law for whatever reason and wind up in jail, they contact a bondsman who, after examining the facts, posts a bond that allows the accused to return home while awaiting their day in court. The bail agent keeps an amount equal to a percentage of the bail as a fee for their services and when the legal process...

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While just about every American adult has heard about bail it’s still a widely misunderstood part of the criminal justice system. Many people think that if someone is arrested they are read their Miranda rights, given a phone call and someone shows up at the jail with cash to bail them out. Actually, most people are never read their Miranda rights (because they only apply if the police are planning to interrogate someone), many are never given...

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Being released on bond is not as simple as “Okay, you can go now. See you in court!” There are almost always conditions attached to a person’s release. Sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally people violate those release terms and when they do their bail is revoked and the process of bond forfeiture set in motion. But is bond forfeiture inevitable if a person violates the terms of their release? Or are there ways to stop the proce...

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