Bail panders to the priviledged, if you can get the cash you can get out! And seriously, it’s quite amazing that this system is still in place. Basically the rich can walk free, pretty much no matter what crime they are accused of.

Now, for the first time, the U.S. Justice Department have taken a stand against this and are saying that it is unconstitutional.

The Justice Department filed an order to the federal court and made it clear that they thought

“Bail practices that incarcerate indigent individuals before trial solely because of their inability to pay for their release violate the Fourteenth Amendment,”

The Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection for all.

The Obama administration is pushing equal protection for the poor and trying to make steps to dismantle the bail system.

They also said that “Fixed bail schedules that allow for the pretrial release of only those who can play, without accounting for the ability to pay,”and that the practises “unlawfully discriminate based on indigence.”

This all came to light related to the case of Maurice Walker of Calhoun, Georgia. He was kept in jail because he could not pay $160 fixed bail, for six nights, after being arrested for a misdemeanor offense of being a pedestrian under the influence.

We can only hope that the Justice Dept. cary this through to the end, it’s about time this discriminatory system stops.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/justice-department-says-poor-can-t-be-held-when-they-n634676