The concept of letting a defendant out of jail while waiting for trial is very old. In medieval England, if someone believed someone else had injured them, they tended to take the law into their own hands and seek revenge. If the people involved were highly placed, this could cause wars.
Anglo-Saxon Justice – The Accused Must Pay
Well over 1,000 years ago, Anglo-Saxon England developed a system of “bots” as an alternative to bloodshed and disorder. This was somewhat like a personal injury lawsuit, where the injured person seeks compensation from the accused. Understandably, people did not always want to pay the “bot,” but fled.
In order to guarantee that the accused would appear for trial, the accused was required to leave as much money or property (“bot”) with the court as the victim would be awarded if they won at trial. If the accused fled before trial, the victim received the “bot” left with the court.
Modern Bail
As was true in medieval England, a defendant today can, in essence, buy their way out of jail while awaiting trial. Crime victims today would probably prefer the old Anglo-Saxon system, where they would receive the “bot” if the defendant fled. Instead, today the state keeps the money if the defendant doesn’t show up.
The amount of bail that a defendant will have to pay is set by the judge at a bail hearing. How much the bail will be is based on the seriousness of the crime and the likelihood of the defendant committing another crime if set free. If the defendant cannot pay the bail, an arrangement is made with a bail bondsman or he/she remains in jail.
It works somewhat like it did in medieval England. The defendant puts up enough cash or property to satisfy the bail bondsman that the defendant will show up for all court dates. In turn, the bail bondsman takes out a bail bond which will pay the amount of the bail to the court if the defendant “skips.” Unless the bail bondsman can find the defendant and return them to jail, the bail bondsman is on the hook for the bail.
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