Yep. This is a huge burden on the poorest in our society and basically means the poorest will never be able to afford bond and the richest will always be able to afford bond. At both ends of the spectrum, bond is basically meaningless. If someone is sufficiently rich, if they want to run, they will, regardless of if $200k is forfeit. If someone is sufficiently poor, they’ll never be able to afford to be out of jail, even if they have no intention on running. I’m not saying that Trump is, in fact, a flight risk, but bond is stupid and if someone should be in jail, then they should be in jail or if they should not be in jail, then they should not be in jail. I know it’s an imperfect system living in an imperfect world, but can someone please come up with some sort of technology mechanism so that the current bond system is rendered obsolete, please?
I feel like the answer is making jail/prison less of a fucking tortuous experience (ala the Scandinavian model), but some people seem to think that jail/prison being the worst possible place to be is a feature, not a bug. If jail were less torturous, then it would be conceivable for rich people who deserve jail to have to go there while awaiting trial and the bond system could be done away with…but that would mean making it nicer for everyone, so probably won’t happen.