Journal of Student Research 2018

61 Alabama’s Pretrial Criminal Process: Structural Violence Within the Bail Bond Industry Alabama’s Pretrial Criminal Process: Structural Violence Within the Bail Bond Industry

Rebecca Doan Senior, Applied Social Science: History and Politics

Melissa C. Emerson PhD, JD

Abstract

This policy analysis examines the Alabama Pretrial Criminal process—more specifically, the bail bond industry and the bail schedule in Alabama, where about 45,000 citizens are incarcerated (United States Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2015). Currently, the system disproportionately keeps people of lower socioeconomic status behind bars because of their inability to make bail. This causes them to lose jobs and properties and causes breaks within family households. The concept of structural violence is a useful analytical tool to use to understand how the pretrial criminal process is unjust. Johan Gultang defines structural violence as violence that is unified through a social structure, such as our judicial system, in order to prevent individuals or groups from meeting basic human needs. This study examines different policy paths to end this structural violence and concludes that a policy option would be an amendment made to Alabama’s current bail schedule to lower the amount of bail set for non-violent crimes. Alabama’s Pretrial Criminal Process: Structural Violence Within the Bail Bond Industry Historically, setting bail has allowed courts to deter defendants from fleeing before trial as well as prevent any danger to the public. Bail is set at certain levels by looking at the defendant’s prior criminal record as well as the severity of the crime committed (Billings, 2016). The United States incarcerates roughly 780,000 individuals in local jails per year that have yet to be convicted of an actual crime (Wagner & Rabuy, 2016). Each of these individuals have been charged and taken into custody, all in one night, but they are still awaiting trial and conviction. This is because they cannot—or will not—pay the bail money to be released, which is an issue that many Keywords: Alabama incarceration, bail bond industry, pretrial criminal process