Restrictions Attached to Bond Considered “Continuing Seizure”

A woman is allowed to pursue a malicious prosecution claim for her bond restrictions after being required to travel monthly to every pre-trial meeting because it was “continuing seizure”

Black v. Montgomery County, 2016 BL 282138, 3d Cir., No. 15-3399, 8/30/16.

   The Third Circuit held that a woman was under a constitutionally significant restraint because of her bond requirement that she attend every pre-trial hearing, even though she lived across the country. The woman was out on a $50,000 bail but was required to fly monthly to attend every court proceeding for a year or face having her bond forfeited in its entirety. The court found that this constituted a seizure. The court based their decision on a plurality concurrence in Albright v. Oliver, which opined that the requirement for a defendant to appear in court for various reasons could constitute a seizure if there were “constitutionally significant restraints.”

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Black_v_Montgomery_County_No_153399_2016_BL_282138_3d_Cir_Aug_30_.