As long as a man is handicapped before the bar of justice because of his poverty, our task as lawyers is not done.
Equality of justice in our courts should never depend upon the defendant’s wealth or lack of resources, but in all honesty we must admit that we have failed frequently to avoid such a result.
What is the price tag on equal justice under law? Has simple justice a price which we as a profession must exact? Is that what we have come to?
The legitimate purpose of bail is to ensure that defendants appear for trial. It has been distorted into systematic injustice. Every year thousands of persons are kept in jail for weeks and even months following arrest.
Through most of the United States today the bail system is a cruel and illogical institution which perpetuates injustice in the name of the law. In actual practice, control is frequently in the hands of bondsmen rather than the courts.
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