JWeinCom said:
sundin13 said:
While the internet is all worked up about Kyle Rittenhouse posting bail, I'd like to say again that cash bail is a terrible system that should be abolished. If someone is truly a danger, they should not be allowed to get out of holding just because they have money. If not, all you are really doing is imposing a system of discrimination on low income individuals, which often traps them into either spending time in prison despite being no risk to society (without being found guilty); or pushes them to rely on bail bonds which again can impose an exorbitant extralegal fine on an individual regardless of guilt. Our court systems should not rely on a system which is inextricable from income discrimination as a means of insuring individuals show up to their court date. The penalty to our fundamental freedoms is too great. We cannot both stand by the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" and utilizing this discriminatory system. |
I have no inherent problem with Kyle Rittenhouse making bail. However, over the last few month I was helping a professor with a research project about bail abuses in the US. There are people who have served months in prison over things like traffic violations. |
Agreed. I think a lot of people freak out when they see the system "working" for some people largely because it doesn't work for so many others, but they need to keep in mind that we shouldn't just criticize this unfairness when the system is working. We should be raising hell over every single one of those people who are being held indefinitely simply because they don't have the money to get out.
Ending cash bail is one of the most important changes that can and should be made in our criminal justice system yet it seems to only really get attention when some white kid gets out...
