Arizona panel recommends major changes to laws on bail, fines
PHOENIX — A special panel of experts on criminal law wants to scrap the current system of setting bail and imposing fines and replace it with one linked to a defendant’s ability to pay.
“Every year in Arizona, thousands of people are arrested and sit in jail awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford to post bail,” according to the report released Tuesday by the Task Force on Fair Justice for All. “While people arrested are protected by a presumption of innocence, if they lack the access to money, they often remain in jail.”
Dave Byers, who chairs the panel created by Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales, said that inability to pay has a financial cost on taxpayers, with the bill statewide for operating jails at $1 million a day. He said the majority of those locked up at any given time have not been convicted of anything but are simply awaiting a court appearance.
“Jail is an expensive resource that should be used for high-risk individuals,” said Byers who is the director of the Administrative Office of the Courts.
Read more: http://tucson.com/news/local/arizona-panel-recommends-major-changes-to-laws-on-bail-fines/article_27dcea07-f6f3-55ff-bee7-4824ee5294ec.html