US Bail System

There is a reason we don't normally throw people into jail without bail...

Isn't the point of bail precisely that you don't get the money back if you don't show up?

It's true that sometimes people can't make bail. Just a few quick notes about that.1. Bail is refundable collateral. It's supposed to be priced within attainability, but it needs to be an amount sufficient to motivate compliance with the court. And when you're looking at criminal charges, that amount generally has to be quite significant, since compliance may result in incarceration or other seriously adverse outcomes. Also, bail will be set based upon the totality of the

Bail lets you out if can get anyone, relative or a bail bondsman, to vouch for you in a material way. Under other systems, same guys who are prosecuting you decide if they feel like letting you out. In US, you can still be released on your own recognizance if the system believes you are not a flight risk. But even for substantial crimes like robbery, where there are reasons to believe you a flight risk, you still can be let out if someone trusts you enough to lend bail money.

He didn't need to fork out 250M. That's not how bail works.

This is a misrepresentation of the legal system in the US. There's an immense amount of information on this topic available from the Bureaeu of Justice Statistics. This [1] paper in particular is highly relevant.Bail tends to be set in relation to the criminal record of an individual, the seriousness of an offense, how much of a flight risk they are, and whether or not they're likely to be a danger to themselves or others if released. It's not the 'norm'. So for insta

They're not criminals yet; that's the entire point of bail.

You provided one example. I'm going to guess this person could have just posted bail and ran regardless. Bail isn't foolproof, and if you have enough money, you can get out of it. Heck, simply having money makes your odds of getting found 'not guilty' much greater in the US.The problem is that bail really doesn't work better than a lot of other sorts of interventions. Know what has a good track record? Letting folks go and having them check in regularly. Calling them

If money spent on keeping them in jail is > the money required for bail; system needs fixing!

The reason they can't make bail is because it's either set very high because the charges are very serious or they've made very poor financial decisions. Either case, they are a flight risk. It's very likely they'll bolt if let out. Your program doesn't address that.