The Sconi

With the topic of cash bail being among the most debated issues this election season, Racine attorney Brian P. Dimmer recently thought to add a bit of clarity to the situation.

“The cash bail is something that comes up when somebody is arrested and charged with a crime [and] is typically determined at one of the first times you show up to court,” Dimmer told WUWM this week. “It is an amount of money that a person pays to remain in the community instead of jail while their case is resolved. It's designed to essentially be an assurance that a person is going to return to court.”

All across the state, voters over the last several months have seen the issue highlighted in political ads, particularly in the race for U.S. Senate, where Democratic candidate Mandela Barnes has taken a stance that incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson argues could ultimately lead to even more crime and destruction. 

Dimmer details how the cash bail system can serve as an alternative to jail time in certain cases, particularly those involving first-time offenders. In every instance the decision is left in the hands of the judge, who is entrusted with determining whether or not to enforce cash bail and what the appropriate amount would be, with the decision essentially revolving around how much of an immediate danger the defendant poses to the public and how much of a flight risk the individual rates as.

In Dimmer’s view, two categories of people are most adversely impacted by the current system, those who cannot afford to pay the bail and those who are wrongfully convicted, because they could find themselves jailed for a crime they are not guilty of.

In between it all, there is also an alternative method called a signature bond that allows a defendant to live at home during their trial without paying money, as long as they abide by a set of rules.

"I have watched plenty of people in court who've been in jail take a deal because they've decided 'what's one more conviction on my record? I just want to get out. I've got to get back to my job,'" Dimmer said. "It does happen and what it really does is creates more [false] convictions." He added that he does not believe eliminating cash bail will automatically lead to a world of more crime.

"Really, [the cash bail out premise] is an illusion that if this person posts this amount of money, [then] our communities are going to be safer,” Dimmer said. “We need to take out this notion that we can figure out who's safe and who's not safe in the community by how much money they can afford."