The History Of Bail Bonds

There is a long history of bail attached to the process of incarceration or unlawful detainment. There are some phrases worth noting regarding unlawful detainment, mainly the Writ of Habeus Corpus, which literally translated from Latin means, "you have the body." A Writ of Habeas Corpus is most always filed by a person who is already imprisoned through the petitioning of the courts with this writ that mandates a review of the sentence imposed, but moreover the actual imprisonment of the individual is contested. A person in custody can also challenge the legality of another person in custody with this writ. The courts are aware of the influx of petitions from inmates who feel they have been wrongly sentenced.

According to "The Electric Law Library, "dismissal of habeas petition under the '"total exhaustion"' rule of Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 520 (1982)" states that "(each claim raised by petitioner must be exhausted before district court may reach the merits of any claim in habeas petition)." This puts a load on all the court systems, but nonetheless, our freedoms are protected under this writ. However, "the Court observed that '"[t]he writ of habeas corpus is one of the centerpieces of our liberties."

Another, but significant part in the history of bail is when our justice system was established with the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution. This Amendment addresses cruel and unusual punishment conveyed in these words, "Excessive bail shall not be required, not excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." The Eighth Amendment is the basis for our bail system today.

Bail, although to some, may seem excessive, has been allocated by the judges of both Superior and Municipal courts. This is called the Bail Schedule and is in accordance to the collective opinions of the judges who implement the monetary value according to the crime. Each county has its own particular needs, and therefore, each county has some derivative of a Bail Schedule.

Last, a short documentation of the US history overlaid with our English counterparts that set all this in motion. Beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215 A.D., this document became the precursor to our laws and its format was to limit the King's power, or the monarch's unscrupulous oversight of their peasantry. The power of the Bishops and noblemen, who turned a blind eye to those incarcerated, was addressed in this document, as well as defining the crime.

"Here is a law which is above the King and which even he must not break. This reaffirmation of a supreme law and its expression is a general charter is the great work of the Magna Carta; and this alone justifies the respect in which men have held it."
-Winston Churchill, 1956

The word 'bailable' entered into a lexicon and was fast becoming the creation of individual freedoms. About 1275 A.D. the Magna Carta was more or less, updated with another document entitled, The Statute of Westminster, or the Statute Laws of England. This judiciary arm was the oversight of the Magna Carta. Although, unlawful detainment was a factor that contributed to all of these documents, the Writ of Habeas Corpus came into full effect in 1679 – that's 464 years after the Magna Carta's origin. In 1689 the English Bill of Rights was enacted, and it was in 1791 the United States formed our version of the English Bill of Rights, called the Bill of Rights. There are 10 Amendments. Our Constitution was finalized in 1788 and became the supreme law of the United States.

Within our Constitution is the Bill of Rights that addresses all of our freedoms; from free speech, to the right to bear arms, the right to a fair trial by jury, and the Fifth Amendment calls for the manner someone is held and to answer to the crimes that "provides for life, liberty and property of the citizen." The Eighth Amendment is the bail bond industry's sole reason for existence where the mantra "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, not cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" is both practiced and enforced by bail bond agents across the United States. The history of bail continues to shine through the practices and standards of the bail bond industry still to this day.