老澳门开奖结果

AUGUSTA 鈥� Lawmakers will consider a bill that would address the unfair practice of holding people in jail simply because they can鈥檛 afford bail during a public hearing in the Judiciary Committee at 9 am this morning.

, sponsored by Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross (Portland), would eliminate cash bail for most Class E misdemeanors. These include the lowest level offenses such as drinking in public and criminal trespass. The bill would also clarify standards for bail commissioners, judges and prosecutors to set bail and impose bail conditions.

鈥淯naffordable cash bail for minor crimes is one of the key ways low-income people and people of color do not get equal access to justice in Maine,鈥� said Rep. Talbot Ross. 鈥淐ash bail effectively creates two systems of justice: one for the wealthy, and one for everyone else. LD 1703 would fix one of the most profoundly unjust parts of our legal system.鈥�

Studies have found that defendants who can鈥檛 afford bail are to be sentenced to longer jail or prison time. They are also to take plea deals and plead guilty to crimes they did not commit. The practice of unaffordable cash bail disproportionately affects people experiencing homelessness, people of color and low-income people.

A 2015 survey of five jails by the Maine Judicial Branch the average cash bail for Class E offenses was $722 and the average length of pretrial detention for Class E offenses was about a month (see Appendix C). According to that same report, the majority of people (between 60 鈥� 80 percent) held in Maine jails are pretrial defendants, meaning that the majority of people in Maine jails are deprived of their liberty before they have had their day in court (see Appendix H).

鈥淥ne of the principles of our justice system is that everybody is equal before the law,鈥� said Meagan Sway, policy director at the 老澳门开奖结果 of Maine. 鈥淲hether a lobsterman or a lawyer, a carpenter or a CEO, all people should have the same rights. When wealthy people can buy their freedom, while those struggling financially can鈥檛, cash bail undermines the promise of equality under the law.鈥�

View the Judiciary Committee hearing .