Comment by frellus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by frellus | Hacker News Reader

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"Bond reform designed to make sure no one stays in jail while their cases are pending with no safety net to handle more criminals on the streets, shorter parole periods, lower sentences for repeat offenders, the malicious and unnecessary prosecution of law enforcement officers, the overuse of diversion programs, intentionally not pursuing prosecutions for crimes lawfully on the books after being passed by our legislature and signed by a governor, all of the so-called reforms have had a direct negative impact, with consequences that will last for a generation."

Hero. This guy worked 20 years for the county. Not only quitting, but "pulling up stakes and moving out of Illinois" because of the crime he sees in his own neighborhood which has grown since moving there.

These activist DAs in certain states are ruining the country by letting crimes go unpunished as a means of "restorative justice". You see this in schools now where the bullies and aggressors are given passes for their behavior.

Let's hope that this only takes a generation to swing back the other way. Feels like it will take longer.

There's nothing heroic about the desire for a pay-to-play justice system. He sounds like a man who has never missed a meal.

There is a legitimate issue in bond reform though - the poor typically do not have the money to bond out and therefore support their family while in jail awaiting trial and the middle-class (through bail bonds) and rich (though having money and property) do. This is a fundamental issue of equity, and I'm not sure what we can do to deal with it other than to say nobody gets bail (which is unconstitutional) or that bail is computed based on the defendant's financial situation (which is done in some places already).

This is a subset of the problem with crimes that are only punishable by fines. In that case, they are de facto legal for the rich and middle class unless the fines scale by the defendant's financial situation as some countries already do.

Why can't they assess whether a suspect is currently productive or not? If someone can't prove means of income other than through the thing they are up on charges for, the point is moot.

Now, yeah, if a productive member of society say crashed into someone else's car, drove off and now is in trouble but ultimately could be productive while the case is processes, sure. Put a tracker on the suspect and let them out without bond; however, is they tamper or skip that would add to the charges and bond or incarceration's would be required due to forfeiting their rights/privileges.

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