Equal Justice Protection Threatened by Bail Policies

A circuit court has held that keeping low-risk defendants in jail that are unable to pay bail until trial “has become a threat to equal justice under the law”

Curry v. Yachera, 2016 BL 286194, 3d Cir., No. 15-1692, 9/1/16.

   The Third Circuit held that a no contest plea given by a defendant held in jail bars him from seeking a claim for malicious prosecution. The dismissal, however, noted that holding low-risk defenders in jail until their court date threatened equal justice. The defendant was arrested after falsely returning $130 of items to Wal-Mart, later being held in jail for two months because he could not make the $20,000 bail that was set. The defendant then made his no contest plea, which released him from jail but only after losing his job and missing the birth of his first child.

   The court affirmed the district court’s dismissal with a modification, but it went further and espoused hope that bail reform would be forthcoming. The court stated, “It seems anomalous that in our system of justice, the access to wealth is what often determines whether a defendant is freed or must stay in jail…Further, those unable to pay who remain in jail may not have the ‘luxury' of awaiting a trial on the merits of their charges; they are often forced to accept a plea deal to leave the jail environment and be freed.”


http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Curry_v_Yachera_No_151692_2016_BL_286194_3d_Cir_Sept_01_2016_Cour.