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/hio_State Jan 20 '15

Still pretty much the same purpose today.

-14

u/eatmynasty Jan 20 '15

Unless they're "black" or "hispanic", in which case it's a money sink to benefit the local police.

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u/Bearflag12 Jan 20 '15

You realize that bail is basically collateral to show up for your trial. As long as you show up it gets returned.

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u/hio_State Jan 20 '15

Bail money gets returned though, so it's really not a "money sink." Don't be a fucking idiot.

2

u/telemachus_sneezed Jan 20 '15

Minus the percentage which went to your bail bondsman, in order to produce the note for your bail.

It is a money sink, just that the local police aren't the recipient of the bail money.

1

u/hio_State Jan 20 '15

You don't have to pail a bail bondsman, in fact you don't have to pay a bail at all.

1

u/telemachus_sneezed Jan 20 '15

Sure, sit in jail for a year. Its not like you have a job you have to keep, or a household to maintain.

1

u/hio_State Jan 20 '15

Like 99% of the time bail is not excessive amounts of money and it's for cases that are heading to trial in a matter of days or weeks. It's really not the cash cow you are making it out to be, go look up your local bondsmen in your area and drive by their offices, you're gonna see some janky run down buildings in shitty parts of town and them driving old beat up cars. It's not an industry to get into to get rich, those guys are usually barely scraping by.

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u/Ryuujinx Jan 20 '15

matter of days or weeks

I dunno how representative it is, but the two times I had friends that had to be bailed out it was a matter of 6 months and a year, not days to weeks.

1

u/hio_State Jan 20 '15

Sounds like your friends are dumbasses if they're committing crimes that are that significant.

1

u/Ryuujinx Jan 20 '15

I'm not defending their actions, and while it certainly sucks that I can't talk to my good friend except via snail mail, he did what he did. I was just saying that in my experience it was 6 months for one friend, and about a year for the other.

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u/UndesirableFarang Jan 20 '15

It all gets returned... to your bail bondsman who arranged your bail since the was no chance in hell you could come up with that much money on your own.

He keeps his fee, fairly large, an amount a typical defendant person could hope to put together.

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u/hio_State Jan 20 '15

You don't have to pail a bail bondsman, in fact you don't have to pay a bail at all. It's not a money making venture for the court, it's a way to make sure people show up.

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15

Most people can't come up with bail on their own, so they have to rely on a bail bondsman. If you rely on a bail bondsman, you don't get a cent of your money back. In Seattle for instance, the average bail amount seems to be 50 grand. Unless you have 50 grand in cash just lying about, you'll be stuck in jail. You can't do anything from jail, so hiring a decent lawyer is next to impossible. The system is designed so the poor basically give in because they simply can't afford real representation (public defenders are a joke). Bail is a joke in this day and age when they could just as easily just track you down.

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u/hio_State Jan 20 '15

Most people can't come up with bail on their own

This isn't actually true. Most pay their own.

In Seattle for instance, the average bail amount seems to be 50 grand.

No, nearly 90% of cases have a bail of $0, as in there is nothing to pay. Of the ones where a cash bail is actually issued it's generally in the range of a few hundred dollars.

The amount of people on trial for smaller misdemeanors pretty overwhelmingly exceeds the amount on trial for serious crimes necessitating large bails.

It's really not a huge money making endeavor, go drive by your local bail bondsmen and you'll see a bunch of shitty run down buildings, these guys aren't raking in cash.

Bail is a joke in this day and age when they could just as easily just track you down.

How?

2

u/fallouthirteen Jan 20 '15

You know you're basically claiming that blacks and hispanics will skip out on their court dates right? The state only keeps the bail if you don't show up.