To the editor:
have been reading with interest about the controversial plans to build a new jail for Hancock County. It seems obvious that a new facility is needed when the current jail is overcrowded. But, how many of the prisoners are in jail because they couldn’t post bail, I wonder? I know that nationally, nearly 70 percent of the prisoner population has not been convicted of a crime but are in jail because they couldn’t afford to make bail.
It seems to me that if we eliminated bail for minor offenses, we would not need to incarcerate so many people. I realize that there are individuals and companies that make their living by assisting arrested people to post bail. They earn a hefty percentage by doing so. But eliminating bail has been successful in some communities. Very few fail to show up for trial even when they have not paid a bail bond.
Bail bonds are discriminatory against people with few resources, and there are way too many people who can’t come up with the fee required to pay a bondsman. So, our jails are full of poor people, while those who have money or connections go free for the same offense.
I’m sure our law enforcement officers and prosecutors have a much better understanding of this than I do, but eliminating bail for minor offenses has worked elsewhere. Why not here?
Phil Boley
Greenfield
