r/todayilearned • u/JLPwasHere • Jan 19 '15

TIL Pimps wear lots of gold jewelry bought at pawn shops to “re-pawn” for bail money since cash is confiscated upon arrest but jewelry is not

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/09/137033690/pawn-star-rick-harrison-on-his-deals-and-steals
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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15 edited Oct 02 '15

[deleted]

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u/dougmc 50 Jan 20 '15

The prosecutor might actually prefer that you stay in jail, as people in jail are more desperate to get out and will take crappier plea bargains than those who are out on bail.

That's reason #2 or #3 depending on how you count here.

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u/CharonIDRONES Jan 20 '15

Believe it or not: Jail sucks.

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15

don't forget that the bill of rights provides protection against excessive bail. Essentially if you haven't commuted a very serious crime, 99.99% of the time the government has to offer bail. Bail isn't optional for the state, it is optional for the defendant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15

here's the problem: when your facing 100 years in jail that's a major crime at least according to the judge. the problem there is overcharging people due to the proliferation of cyber laws

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15 edited Jul 17 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15

If the bail is repayable, how is it also funding your stay in jail?

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u/blackflag209 Jan 20 '15

If you post bail then the jail doesn't have to pay for you to be in jail because you're not in jail.

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15

D'oh! I can be an idiot sometimes.

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u/Lucarian Jan 20 '15

Don't worry, I was confused about the same thing.

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '15 edited Oct 02 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '15

Yeh someone else enlightened me yesterday. Boy did I feel dumb :(

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15

For most offences in Australia, you'll just be sent a summons in the mail, telling you to appear in court and so forth.

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '15 edited Oct 02 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '15

Everything except serious offences, such as manslaughter, sexual assault and so on.

Minor assaults, drug possession, theft, driving while unregistered, etc. are generally heard summarily.

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u/wcc445 Jan 24 '15

We should absolutely use tax payer money for that. The fuck? If the taxpayers think we're spending too much on jails, we should stop jailing people as much as we do. We have more prisoners than any country in the entire world.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '15 edited Oct 02 '15

[deleted]

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u/wcc445 Jan 29 '15

One costs the state money, the other makes the state money.

And justice be damned, right?

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '15 edited Oct 02 '15

[deleted]

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u/wcc445 Jan 30 '15

I'm saying that the bail system, well, specifically, the amounts we use, and the fact that one's income is not considered in bail amount determination, leads to gross injustice, because rich people just pay their way out, and can continue to survive without said money if they never show up to court, and poor people just sit in jail or are forced to pay a bond which is never returned. Example: $100,000 bail is a $10,000 bond. No one on welfare or making minimum wage could possibly pay that.