Frosh says unaffordable bonds may be unconstitutional
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has responded to a request for his advice from state delegates about whether Maryland’s system of pre-trial detention is lawful. In some instances a criminal defendant may be required in some instances to post a cash bond, however when that bond clearly exceeds the defendants ability to pay it, is it unlawful, Frosh said his belief is that is.
Frosh also went one step further in his response letter to the democratic delegates saying the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, would probably declare that the bail is excessive under the Eight Amendment of the US Constitution.
According to local defense attorney William Hall these unlawfully high bails can be common and disproportionately affect lower income people. Sometimes just because the judge has personal disposition against you or the crime you committed and because there are no guidelines on just how high bail can bet set.
“You have to remember that judges are human too and there are some judges that have their own personal prejudices,” said Hall. “In some instances you might have theft of a candy bar but yet bond is set at $100,000.”
Hall said in his 20 plus years of practicing law he’s even seen defendants spend more time in jail pretrial than what the crimes maximum sentence could be. Hall said the solution could involve technology.
“I think what we’re finally going to see is a hybrid system where there will be a computer program that the judge will take a look at the results from that and this computer program will rate defendants on whether or not they’re a flight risk,” Hall said.
Hall said the best way to avoid unfair bail in the meantime is to ensure an attorney is with you for your bond hearing. He says attorneys can be hired just for those occasions. However if you can’t hire an attorney and your public defender can’t make it to the hearing, Hall said defendants should know they can ask to their bond hearing to be continued until they get representation.
