SF Is Being Sued Because Rich People Have More Money Than The Poor
Brian Anderson
Brian Anderson
December 27, 2015
I know this may come as a shock to the more socially conscious among us, but rich people have more money than poor people. This startling revelation has a whiney activist group suing San Francisco. The issue: rich people can afford to pay bail to get out of jail while poor folks can’t.
The Huffington Post reports that a group known as Equal Justice Under Law has filed a class action lawsuit against SF, arguing that the current bail system is unconstitutional.
The way thing work now is like this: When a suspect is arrested and charged, a judge will set a bail amount based on the severity of the crime. The suspect can pay that bail and be released until the trial, and if he or she actually shows up, that money will be returned. If the suspect cannot afford the bail, he or she can go to a bail bondsman, who will put up the bail for a 10% fee. For example: if the bail is set at $100,000, a person would have to pay the bondsman $10,000 and that money is non-refundable.
The bottom line is, if someone wants to get out of jail, they either have to pay the bail themselves or pay a fee to a bail bondsman to do it for them. In the second scenario the accused is not going to get the money back no matter what the outcome of the criminal case. Therein lies the “injustice” according to the lawsuit:
The lawyers have filed a class action lawsuit…who argue that San Francisco and California’s bail system unconstitutionally treats poor and wealthy suspects differently.
Wealthy suspects can put up their houses or other valuable assets — or simply write a check — to post bail and stay out of jail until their cases are resolved. Poorer suspects aren’t so lucky. Many remain behind bars or pay nonrefundable fees to bail bonds companies.
Rich people can also afford to buy mansions and luxury cars while poor people live in shitholes and ride the bus. The wealthy eat lobster and wear designer clothes while the poor get both their groceries and their clothing from the 99 Cent Store. When will there be economic equality in this country?
Several times in this HuffPo article it is mentioned that the lawyers in this case want to replace the current cash bail system. With what, they do not say. The point of setting a bail is to insure that the accused actually shows up for the trial. If we get rid of cash bail and release defendants on their own recognizance, how many of them do you think will ever make a court date?
While the 8th Amendment says that “excessive bail” is forbidden, there is no Constitutional right for an individual to be granted bail in a criminal proceeding. It’s hard for something to be unconstitutional when it isn’t even a Constitutional right. What this lawsuit amounts to is that the lawyers think it’s unfair that some people have more money than others.
If this lawsuit is successful (it’s in liberal SF, so who thinks it won’t be?), it really opens up unfairness litigation. Ugly people can sue the beautiful, fat people can sue the thin, short people can sue the tall. Hell, even lazy people can sue the ambitious if they can motivate themselves off of the couch. It will be a democrat’s dream where everyone is equal and nobody gets their feelings hurt.
http://downtrend.com/71superb/sf-being-sued-because-rich-people-have-more-money-than-the-poor
