Verified answer

The bail system is a way to insure that the defendant will show up for a court hearing. Since the person has only been arrested he/she is not guilty of committing a crime so he/she can only be kept in jail as a way of assuring their appearance at any future hearing. They can, in effect, buy their freedom again by posting what is known as bail. Generally they can put up actually money, or, in some cases they can put up real property, i.e. a house or piece of ground. If they are not able to do either of those things they can contact a "bail bondsman." That person will take a fee from the person, usually 7 to 10 percent of the face amount of the bail, and then he will place a bond with the court. A bond in like an insurance policy. It insures that you will appear at the hearing. In any event, if you do not show up for the hearing it is said that you have forfeited your bail. That is to say that the court will keep your money, take ownership of the property or make the bail bondsman actually pay the money to the court. If you are caught or show up later the court may return the money to you or they have the right to keep it. Assuming that you show up you would get all of your money back, less any costs or fines. However, the bail bondsman will keep the fee you paid to him. Bail insures that you show up for hearings, it enables you to go free pending your court appearance and it frees up space in the jails. The bail bondsman keeps the fee and therefore he makes money on the transaction. Lastly, it should be added that in the vast majority of cases the defendant is permitted to go free on his signature assuring that he will appear at the hearings. That is referred to as being let go on his/her own recognizance.

i had a friend who was put in jail for spanking his son. who was clearly misbehaving. i did bail him out. and the district attorney decided not to file charges. clearly, he should have not spent any time in jail. he cannot get the time back. he cannot remove from his life experience, the time he spent there. it'd be good if we knew who really deserved it, and who didn't. but in this case, you're guilty until you're proven otherwise. unless, of course, it's okay to just put people in jail because you, or someone else, doesn't like them.