Bail should be based on crimes
The bail fairness has often been a trait Americans work for and, in some regards, have been praised for, but that is far from reality. There are many problems with our government, but one that never ceases to amaze me is the flaws within our justice system. One issue I’ve found to be especially frustrating is bail. Bail should be based on the weight of one’s crimes, not based on the weight of one’s bank account.
For example, former Hidden Hills socialite Rebecca Grossman was arrested for the fatal hit-and-run of two children in Sept. 2020. Despite the fact that the crime occurred almost three years ago, the trial is still ongoing, having been postponed. Grossman is immensely wealthy, which allows her to pay bail and avoid jail until a verdict is reached. Which, in all honesty, is disgusting and does not speak about the justice that should be served, or at least evaluated for.
Fortunately, California is working on improving some bail issues, but their improvements are not complete yet. On Aug. 26, 2022, the California Senate introduced and approved Senate Bill 262, passing certain bail reformations. It states that all misdemeanor and felony crimes will have a zero-dollar bail with a few exceptions. But, that still doesn’t change the fact that rich people who commit high-level crimes can still sleep in their warm beds at night while waiting for their trial’s conclusion, especially when they undoubtedly committed the crime they are being tried for.
In the past, it was always so frustrating to see people be stuck in jail for low-level crimes. They are jailed until their trial, sometimes even if they’re innocent. But then the rich commit high-level crimes and can stay up to a few years out of jail until their trial is completed. On the other hand, some say when people cannot pay bail, resulting in them to stay in jail, makes the community safer. But keeping the “criminals” behind bars doesn’t work when the justice system is inherently flawed. There are biases ingrained in the system that makes serving actual justice consistently inaccurate. Locking people up doesn’t solve the problem when there is a bigger root problem, such as economic pressure,rising rent and stagnant pay.
In a perfect world, the system would go as follows: low-level crimes would warrant the suspect options for bail until their trial, unless necessary due to additional circumstances like connections to other crimes. While for high-level crimes, there would be bail based case-to-case. Sometimes there are crimes where the suspect is not as clear, and in that case, it wouldn’t be just to keep them in jail, which would prevent a random person from being pulled out of nowhere to be the suspect. But, people who are more clearly suspected of the crime should not be granted that option.
As our country develops and we refine its older systems, it’s critical to make sure we make changes that benefit our country equally. Making the system that holds the country’s citizens accountable must be a top priority; people who kill two children shouldn’t be able to sleep in their mansion at night. If we do not continue to make changes, these injustices will continue to occur.
