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Show . 'I si he can reasonably show he can be depended upon to be there for Release Service Debated Pre-Tri- al ''There by Laura Briggs Jail happens to some other guy, not me or you. On television and in the movies, it's all positive Either the Ralph Child of Precinct 1, want to think about being involved with law enforcement in common of us have not the slightest despite all the television crime shows we've concept- - watched - of what to do. In the past, it has been customary for the judge of the court to set bail. The citizen can take his "one phone call" to try to contact a bondsman to "go his bail." This means that, whatever bail is set at, the prisoner must raise 10 of that amount before he can be released to await his hearing or trial at a later date. Whether he is innocent or guilty, the accused must be able to pay this money to a bondsman, or he will have to stay in jail until his case comes before the courts. A few years ago, an attorney from Philadelphia founded a program, popularly called "O.R." or "Own Recognizance," which was based on the principal of releasing persons without requiring posting of bail, Hendrickson, interviewer talks with unidentified prisoner. Karl is one of Karl interviewers in seven part-tim- e Release program. Pre-Tri- he is forced to pay a fee not to remain in jail, regardless of his innocence or guilt. If his wife or family has to raise the bail, the prisoner often has to remain in jail, missing time at work, until bail can be raised on his behalf. "Originally, bail meant only that a friend or associate would a crime. Worse still, stand responsible for the prisoner," declared Lester. "No money was involved in the release and that is what O.R. is doing, going back to the valid idea of personal recognizance." Utah, 0. R. or Salt Lake In Release Service was funded by Model Cities as a pilot program in August of this year. Pre-Tri- Joe Clarke, project coordinator, states that 227 persons were interviewed in November, of 18 were released on their own recognizance; 275 were interviewed in October and 75 were released through Plans are to absorb the service into the County if it proves as feasible in the Salt Lake area as it has in other areas. At that time, which 1 Pre-Tria- l. Model Cities will continue has a steady job and has lived in the area a long time in order to build up enough points to be can Mrs. Cardena stressed that it was her impression that 0. R. a public agency justify competing with private business?" 0. R . is not working with the underprivileged Morgan said. "It as it claim, getting the cream of the risks, as far as the prisoners are concerned - the bankers, service station owners and kids of men who have the is released." interviewers did not verify the facts given them by the prisoners. "If the prisoner responsibility for the kid. It's no sweat for this kind of person to convince O. R. that he will appear in hours hustling a prisoner sometimes before he even gets put into a cell. In our understanding, they are only authorized to interview during certain hours, but these people to pattern to Clarke denied allegations that prisoners are not checked out on the information they provide the interviewer. "The prisoners are interviewed, the information is verified with the family, employer or associates of the prisoner and that validation is recorded in our files," Clarke covers salaries of two and nine part-timpersons, plus They also interfere with our job. A prisoner contacts a bondsman, so while we are involved in checking out sources of help for our client, 0. R. interviews him and gets him out of jail." Mrs. Cardena also stated that she believed the "credit rating point system" of rating a prisoner fit or unfit to be released is is e Clarke. Bail bondsmen take issue with the program. "It is not right for a federally funded program that is supposed to be helping the person without money to extend itself to the prisoner who can well afford to post bail," states Raul Morgan of Morgan Bail Bonding. discriminatory. "A prisoner has to prove he or she owns a home. get released," she concluded. pointed out. full-tim- e indicate they are watching the 0. R. program very closely. "I have had some question in my mind about the wisdom of letting out certain prisoners," stated Judge Jones. "It appears to me when a policeman risks his safety and sometimes his life bringing in a violent, drunken andor armed prisoner it is not proper to have some college kid interview him or her and decide to release this person back on the streets.'' The judge cited an when owners of a incident tavern who had been arrested for selling liquor to minors were released through 0. R. while a dozen others who were arrested in connection with the same case were not considered eligible. Judge Child has expressed that he is being cautious in exhibiting confidence in the Salt Lake or 0. R. program. He stated he appreciates all the Pre-Tri- al information and discussion a model cities project background to prove court, but the hippie type, the transient, the person who is alone in the world, is there anyone yet who stands up for him?" Mrs. John Cardena, whose husband operates Bill Hughes Bail Bonding, agrees with Morgan. "0. R. people are at the jail at all has been interviewed before, all he or she has to do is learn to fit into the be sitting there 'moonlighting it' every night. stability and responsibility as far appearance. Lester, the founding attorney, states he was appalled by what he considered, "the use of bail as an additional form of punishment for a man or woman who is already distraught, who may or may not have committed "I sympathize with the man who needs financial help. He should not have to stay in jail because he is poor or not employed. But how seem operating expenses, according to their scheduled court al funding at the rate of $1 3,400 for the next twelve months, which provided they could establish as ar hundred released. We have a few judges who are watching to see if we ignore common-sens- e and release prisoners out of some misguided ideas of social reform. We are a pilot program and some of our methods are necessarily cautious, so as not to alarm the public or other agencies." Justices of the Peace, Judge C. A. Jones, Precinct 3 and Judge wondering where to turn for help. The point is, most of us never criminal." This happens every day to thousands of us - and most fail-ure-to-appe- than one person for every between those bars and a of has been low, less -- "treated like e time. Our rate psychopath public enemy finally gets what he deserves or the good guy is unjustly arrested and he has faith for fifteen years until a hero lawyer finds the real criminal. Not so. Being arrested is a daily ;occurence, not for the hardened, professional criminal, but for the man and woman on the street. Joe or Jane Citizen you and me - can suddenly find a uniformed policeman escorting us to jail. We watch ourselves being booked, and, incredibly, there we are, peering from this way. Innocent or guilty, that is not the issue at the moment. The arresting officer may not have been authorized to tell you why you were arrested. Perhaps it is on a bench warrant for unpaid parking tickets. You may have forgotten about them, or perhaps you did pay them and you have to prove it. Or perhaps you know full well you gave in to temptation to walk out of the store with an item you didn't pay for, or that you shouldn't have had that last drink on the way home. But here you are, really a nice person, being are certain reasons we cannot let a person out on the 0. R. program," stated Clarke. "There are reasons a bail bondsman cannot go bail. The prisoner is too risky, or the judge makes release out of the question for a certain common-sens- or negative. court." his )day in "It is not true that a prisoner discriminated against for any reason, continued Clarke. "Many persons on welfare, who are unemployed, or who do not have a permanent home have been released through 0. R., because despite these factors, they could establish stability to qualify for release. We feel it is discrimination to refuse any prisoner a right to an interview or release on his own recognizance if concerning the program which is provided in meetings scheduled by 0. R., specifically geared to assess the program from the angle of the public, law enforcment agencies and the court system. Judge Brent Erickson of Precinct 5 in Granger has expressed full support of the O. R. program. Some law enforcement agencies openly advocate the demise of the private bail bondsman because they feel the system of posting bail encourages crime, since the professional criminal considers the possibility of arrest merely a temporary occupational hazard. The habitual public offender knows that his attorney and bail money are tools of his trade, so he can get out of jail "to operate as usual." |