No: Only bail can ensure that defendants will appear

Charles Miller After Lucas County piloted a riskassessment tool, the failure-toappear rate in that county climbed to an estimated 40 percent. million in 2015, when they started using the tool, to an anticipated $34.2 million in 2018. This type of bail reform singlehandedly fails to address the financial concerns of overincarceration with implementation of the risk-assessment tool.

Risk assessment is already established in Ohio’s current bail system. Police officers, judges, bondsmen, probation officers and anyone affiliated with a defendant’s arrest follow effective procedures and processes that bring Ohio’s criminals to justice. (This is outlined in Ohio Criminal Rule 46.)

When setting bail, judges consider, among other things, the circumstance of the crime, whether a weapon was used, the weight of evidence against the defendant, the defendant’s family ties, employment, financial circumstances, length of time in the community, prior convictions and record of appearing in court. This is a much more thorough risk assessment than is provided by any ninequestion, black-box algorithm.

The bail system is not broken. “No-money bail” and black-box algorithms will benefit only the criminal and leave the victim behind. Implementing any reform to bail would be detrimental to our society, completely dismantle the bail industry and cause an unfortunate distraction from real reform that could positively impact Ohio’s judicial system. Again, bail ensures justice.