From History:
Bail has long been a feature of the American justice system, meant to keep people out of jail before trial while ensuring they return to court. Rooted in medieval England, it began as a way to avoid unnecessary pretrial imprisonment. In the United States, the system expanded into a cornerstone of legal traditions—and a continuing source of debate over fairness and equality.
“In medieval England, bail developed as a way to reconcile two principles: ensuring the accused appeared in court while avoiding unnecessary pretrial imprisonment,” says Shima Baradaran Baughman, a law professor at Brigham Young University and author of The Bail Book: A Comprehensive Look at Bail in America's Criminal Justice System.
The influential English Bill of Rights of 1689 prohibited "excessive bail," a principle deliberately incorporated into American legal thought.
“When the colonies established their own systems, they carried forward the idea that liberty before trial should be the default, with financial guarantees used as a safeguard rather than as punishment,” Baughman says. “This continuity explains why bail became embedded so firmly in our early legal framework even though England later abandoned their earlier models.” Continue reading >>>
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