Brooklyn, NY – The foundation of the American judicial system is simple: Innocent until proven guilty. However, sometimes the culprit’s crime is so heinous, the safety of the community is at stake. Persons who commit crimes are innocent until proven guilty, but society must also consider the impact and safety of the victims.

Cash bail is a means that helps keep the perpetrator from fleeing trial. It is highly unusual that a first-time offender accused of non-violent and/or misdemeanor crimes is remanded to jail and required to post bail.

The current crimes being considered for elimination of cash bail include child pornographers, sex traffickers, and drug traffickers not charged with an A felony. These crimes are misdemeanors and seemingly non-violent, however when they are chronic, the safety of the public must be considered.

Based on innocent until proven guilty, Kerry Kennedy established a charity to indiscriminately bail out women and youngsters 16 and 17 years old from Rikers Island. Essentially paying their bail so they could return to their lives. The NY Post notes, in an October 8, 2018 article how three of them returned to crime. Given an opportunity to better their lives, they chose to continue to inflict harm on society. Had they not been bailed out, society would have been safer.

While we all agree that in America one is innocent until proven guilty, unfortunately, many times it is the culprit who establishes otherwise.