Hussra wrote:
it applies to misdemeanors. i think this grew out of the problem similar to what the city of Ferguson was doing:
arresting people for not paying moving violations and then holding them in jail and requiring bail (and any sort of bail amount could be prohibitive for some) causing them to miss work/lose jobs etc.
While in traffic court here in PA I have not seen the bail issues but I have seen jail for moving violations. From the cases I observed the judge would tell people you are going to jail for x amount of days to equal a large fine you cannot pay. The people seemed to have had these drag out for a while. I suppose that is what the government needs to do or else why would anyone ever pay?
As for bail unless you are arrested for a serious crime or have had some history of serious crime or not showing up to court you get "I bonds" or whatever they call it here.