Constitutional Rights and Federal Bail Procedures: Summary Report of Hearings and Investigations by the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights and the Subcommittee on Improvements in Judicial Machinery of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Congress, Second Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 265 |
Common terms and phrases
accused of crimes accused of Federal administration of criminal admitted to bail adversary system Amadeo amended American Civil Liberties amount of bail appears for trial Attorney bail bond bail bondsman bail laws bill bondsman cash deposit Civil Liberties Union Co-chairman Ervin CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS court or commissioner CREDIT FOR PRETRIAL criminal justice custody prior defendant discretion District of Columbia emphasized Federal bail procedures Federal bail system Frank Wright habeas corpus handicaps the accused Illinois improve Federal bail inevitably disadvantage persons judge Judicial Machinery Judiciary Lawrence Speiser limited to indigents mandatory minimum sentence mandatory sentence Manhattan bail project McCarthy meet bail requirements penalty provisions percent personal recognizance persons accused presumed innocent presumption of innocence pretrial credit pretrial custody pretrial release primarily upon financial procedures inevitably disadvantage Professional Bondsmen Professor Bowman punishable release on personal right to bail RIGHTS AND FEDERAL Senator spent in custody Subcommittee on Constitutional system of justice United Bonding
Popular passages
Page v - And upon all arrests in criminal cases, bail shall be admitted, except where the punishment may be death, in which cases it shall not be admitted but by the supreme or a circuit court, or by a justice of the supreme court, or a judge of a district court, who shall exercise their discretion therein, regarding the nature and circumstances of the offence, and of the evidence, and the usages of law.
Page v - If the defendant is admitted to bail,, the amount thereof shall be such as in the judgment of the commissioner or the court or judge or justice will insure the presence of the defendant, having regard to the nature and circumstances of the offense charged, the weight of the evidence against him, the financial ability of the defendant to give bail and the character of the defendant.
Page v - A person arrested for an offense not punishable by death shall be admitted to bail . . .
Page vi - From the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789 . . . , to the present Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 46(a) (1), 18 USCA, federal law has unequivocally provided that a person arrested for a non-capital offense shall be admitted to bail.
Page vi - The right to release before trial is conditioned upon the accused's giving adequate assurance that he will stand trial and submit to sentence if found guilty...
Page 5 - An interview generally takes about ten minutes and verification less than an hour. If the case is still considered a good risk after verification, a summary of the information is sent to the arraignment court. Copies of the recommendation and supporting information are given to the judge, the district attorney, and counsel for the accused.
Page vi - This traditional right to freedom before conviction permits the unhampered preparation of a defense, and serves to prevent the infliction of punishment prior to conviction * * • Unless this right to bail before trial is preserved, the presumption of innocence, secured only after centuries of struggle, would...
Page vii - ... functions. It follows that insofar as the financial status of the accused impedes vigorous and proper challenges, it constitutes a threat to the viability of the adversary system. We believe that the system is imperiled by the large numbers of accused persons unable to employ counsel or to meet even modest bail requirements and by the large, but indeterminate, numbers of persons, able to pay some part of the costs of defense, but unable to finance a full and proper defense. Persons suffering...
Page 5 - Included in the 99 percent who returned are some few defendants who did miss a court appearance, had their ror revoked and a bench warrant issued; but in most of these cases a telephone call from Vera revealed some mishap or misunderstanding; and the official process was reversed. Our high rate of returns — compared with a bail forfeiture rate estimated at about 2% percent — suggests that verified information about a defendant is a more reliable criterion upon which to base release than ability...
Page 4 - We have held that an indigent defendant is denied equal protection of the law if he is denied an appeal on equal terms with other defendants, solely because of his indigence. Can an indigent be denied freedom, where a wealthy man would not, because he does not happen to have enough property to pledge for his freedom?