Given the soaring numbers of the prison population in the U.S., it’s not surprising that more than half of all American men will be arrested at some point in their lives. Whether the reasons for the arrest are fair or unfair, one thing is very clear. Life inside prison is difficult and even dangerous, and it can be much easier to carry out a legal defense from the safety of one’s home. If the judge has set an amount for bail, bail bonding services can ensure that your or your family member or friend will be back home before too much time has passed.
Most of the people in prison have not yet been convicted
It’s called the criminal justice system, but for any number of reasons it doesn’t always deliver. As more and more innocence projects are springing up across the country to help exonerate long term and death row prisoners, it becomes clear that miscarriages of justice are distressingly common. Experts estimate that if there was enough time to research every single case, at least one of 25 prisoners on death row would be free.
Even for less serious charges, the justice system fails individuals more commonly than we like like to believe. No one really expects that they will go to prison one day but studies show that one person out of three is likely to do so by the time they are 23 years of age. In fact, most people are in prison before their guilt or innocence has been proven in court.
Why do you need bail?
Most of the people currently in jail are not serving time for crimes they have been convicted of; they’re just waiting for their cases to go to trial. As much as 60% of the prison population in the U.S. on any single day have not yet been convicted of any crimes. They are just being held while their cases progress through the courts.
In general, for all but the most serious charges, judges will grant bail provided certain conditions are met. Most people don’t have the entire amount of the bail set by the judge at hand. Nor do they need to pay up the full amount. A bail bondsman will post bond in exchange for a non-refundable fee, which is usually about 10% of the total amount.
Get out of jail fast
A crowded jail is no place for someone who is still under trial. The prison system is run on a for-profit business model. Since 2000, jails across the country operated at 91% capacities. Good for the corporations that run the jails, not so good for the prisoners. In the twelve months from June 2010 to June 2011, around 12 million people were processed in the jail system in the U.S. The potential for mistakes and abuse is staggering.
A professional bail bond agency can get the accused out of jail quickly and for the payment of a much smaller amount than the total bail bonds. The downside is that the fee charged by the bail bond service is not refundable, no matter what the outcome of the legal case.
With around 14,000-bail agents around the country, it should be easy find to help if it becomes necessary. A mobile bail bond service will carry out all the necessary administrative steps to release people facing most criminal charges. A jail is no place for someone who has not yet been convicted of a crime through a fair trial. A mobile bail bond service can help you get back to your home, your family and your job, where you belong.
