Did you ever wonder why bail was as expensive as it is? Aren’t some of the laws (and the subsequent bail) a little ridiculous? Bail is meant to keep the defendant either in jail or in town until trail. The 2013 California uniform bail schedule reveals a few interesting facts. Some of the bail prices make you wonder how they rate their crimes.
1) “Marijuana, possession to sell” has a bail of $20,000. If you have over 25 pounds of the stuff, $50,000 is your ticket price. 50 pounds of marijuana will ensure a $100,000 bail. However, the bail price doesn’t seem sufficient. If they were dealing with a serious drug dealer with that many pounds of marijuana, it’s likely that he will have enough to bail himself out with his previous earnings. (At most $600 per pound of marijuana in California; If he sold the 50 pounds in California, he would have $30,000.) Then again, paying bail with drug money may not be the best idea.
2) “Driving car without consent” is referring to car theft. At first glance, it sounds like a teenage kid took his mother’s car without asking. She freaks (thinking her car was stolen), and she sends the cops after him. For borrowing the car for a night, he landed a$20,000 bail. It would have been cheaper to rent a car. Hopefully, she lets him off and doesn’t charge him, but you never know.
3) “Possessing weapons of mass destruction” is a serious crime that calls for $50,000 bail. But considering that we arrested Saddam Hussein and toppled his government because we believed he had weapons of mass destruction, we are sure being nice to the average person for possessing them. And if he did have a nuclear bomb, he’d certainly have more than $50,000 to bail themselves out of jail.
4) “Residential burglary” has a bail of $50,000. That seems about right. However, “burglary with explosives,” though much more violent and dangerous, also has a bail of $50,000. This either means that stealing from a home is just as bad as blowing something up, or using explosives is no worse than robbing a house.
5) “Train Wrecking” has a bail of $1,000,000. Written into law in 1905, derailing a train is a capital crime. The law was originally meant for derailing or stopping a train for robbery, but perhaps this law needs an update. California still uses it today. In 2005, a suicidal man parked his car on the track and waited for the train. But at the last second he got smart and jumped out of his car. The collision derailed the train and killed several people. The man was charged with murder and a possible death sentence.
It’s ridiculous, and it may sound a little odd, but it’s still the law. However, these are just standards—it’s the judge who sets bail. And unfortunately for some, the bail system works. If you don’t pay your bail, you’re not getting out. That’s why Bail Bonds Direct is around—so you can get out and breathe while you await trail.