No Bail - Court Changes Rules

[Not_an_outlaw]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-bail-rule-20170207-story.html

From the story - "Maryland's highest court adopted a landmark rule Tuesday aimed at ending the practice of holding criminal defendants in jail before trial when they cannot afford bail."

In the same paper on the same day.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-police-shooting-20170207-story.html

"The teen has been arrested three times in the past month on drug and gun charges, Smith said. He had just been released from jail Monday on bail for felony gun and drug possession charges, and was back on the street with another gun, Smith said."

 

[Mark75H]

Lovin' it. Stayin' out of the city this summer.

 

[S6T6]

Just plain sad & illogical. The system is so corrupt & flawed it will not work as they think it will. In a perfect world their ideas might work...but we certainly don't live in a perfect world do we.

 

[Mark75H]

Just plain sad & illogical. The system is so corrupt & flawed it will not work as they think it will. In a perfect world their ideas might work...but we certainly don't live in a perfect world do we.

You have no compassion for those less fortunate than yourself

 

[jonnyl]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-bail-rule-20170207-story.html

From the story - "Maryland's highest court adopted a landmark rule Tuesday aimed at ending the practice of holding criminal defendants in jail before trial when they cannot afford bail."

In the same paper on the same day.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-police-shooting-20170207-story.html

"The teen has been arrested three times in the past month on drug and gun charges, Smith said. He had just been released from jail Monday on bail for felony gun and drug possession charges, and was back on the street with another gun, Smith said."

Don't worry, this crime problem will be solved when they pass the law making ftf long gun sales illegal....

 

[Name Taken]

I think this will just cause a bigger back log of prisoners.

Instead of giving the unemployed, non homeowner, not married, father of 2 a bail of say 30k for Robbery they are going to say that would not be legal since he has no means of meeting that payment. So he'll be held without bail until his court date.

IMHO this was done on purpose to back log the system so they can really re-write the bail system. There were talks about it for the last several years and never really got a big push. When they start seeing all these folks held without bail it's going to cause a stir and they can re-write the entire thing taking money out of it all together.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

This is really f-ing things up here in Frederick County. What it has essentially done is make two tracks. You are either released on PR or you are held without bail. Very little middle ground anymore.

 

[3paul10]

Give him a free house and he'll stop doing all the bad things.

 

[Name Taken]

This is really f-ing things up here in Frederick County. What it has essentially done is make two tracks. You are either released on PR or you are held without bail. Very little middle ground anymore.

It's almost as if its being done on purpose.

 

[TheRealJimDavis]

We're going to hell in a hand basket. People who don't deal with the court system regularly have no idea how bad it is. I firmly believe term limits are a real and viable solution, but good luck getting them to vote on That.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

Its completely froshed up. It appears to me that the unintended (?) consequence of this new policy is that more poor people are being held. I've seen this with the public defenders' clients. Under the new rules the judge cannot set a cash bail for a person they know doesn't have the means to pay. All of the PD's clients are [supposed to be] indigent. Therefore its either PR or HWOB for them. I know the PD's in the trenches are pretty pissed off about this.

 

[lonzo]

The one problem with this, is that with no bail or extreme low amount bail is that they wont show.. I know a case personally where the guy got a very small bail and he left the state and went to Virginia...and nobody is actively looking for him.. where is the justice?

 

[Tebonski]

Ultimately the legislature will ban all firearms by non criminal citizens as the only way to plug the bloodshed in Baltimore. This foolish bail reform nonsense will release more criminals who will continue their crime and will result in more shot and killed in Baltimore. I predict another record year for Baltimore crime. Someone has to be blamed and pay for it and we are the scapegoat.

 

[Mark75H]

Ultimately the legislature will ban all firearms by non criminal citizens as the only way to plug the bloodshed in Baltimore. This foolish bail reform nonsense will release more criminals who will continue their crime and will result in more shot and killed in Baltimore. I predict another record year for Baltimore crime. Someone has to be blamed and pay for it and we are the scapegoat.

Its Trump's fault. And Global Warming.

 

[Sgt. Psycho]

Its Trump's fault. And Global Warming.

And Bush.....don't forget to blame Bush.

 

[Wheaton Hills Sportsman]

They have been using the system based on primarily relying on community ties and release on recognizance in D.C. for decades, it has been a total success, they have next to no crime at all. Of course that nearly total lack of crime in D.C. may be due to gun control, no criminals can access guns in D.C. because they have awesome gun control. If you heard anything different is was just fake news.

Wait a minute, maybe I got that backwards.

 

[Pinecone]

I think this will just cause a bigger back log of prisoners.

Instead of giving the unemployed, non homeowner, not married, father of 2 a bail of say 30k for Robbery they are going to say that would not be legal since he has no means of meeting that payment. So he'll be held without bail until his court date.

IMHO this was done on purpose to back log the system so they can really re-write the bail system. There were talks about it for the last several years and never really got a big push. When they start seeing all these folks held without bail it's going to cause a stir and they can re-write the entire thing taking money out of it all together.

You got it backwards.

They will NOT hold them, even if they cannot pay the bail.

Basically let them free until their trial date.

 

[K31]

The one problem with this, is that with no bail or extreme low amount bail is that they wont show.. I know a case personally where the guy got a very small bail and he left the state and went to Virginia...and nobody is actively looking for him.. where is the justice?

I don't have a problem with this as long as they know the clock stops ticking when they flee the state.

 

[Name Taken]

You got it backwards.

They will NOT hold them, even if they cannot pay the bail.

Basically let them free until their trial date.

Not really.

Bail in this state has always been inconsistent with folks getting released with heavy charges and some folks being held on minor charges with no real rhyme or reason.

Commissioners are a mix of the populace here in MD with some being liberal in their views and others being Conservative.

There have been articles wrote about it and plenty of defense attorneys complaining their clients are now being held W/O bail where before they would get a high dollar amount bail that they could pay (with under the table money).

The politicians in Maryland want to re-write the rules. They haven't had luck passing their agenda in the past few years. They clearly plan on changing that. I have no doubt that their end plan is to have more folks on the street and less held but I'm also certain they are willing to have a few held W/O bail to get their point across.

Look at how this was initially done. It could get traction in the legislation so the "Judges of the state" so to speak brought about the change. Oddly enough the "judges of the state" and many of the states legislators draw a short line to one another.

 

[motorcoachdoug]

Dont they do the same thing up in Philfithy aka Philly?