From time to time I peek in on the Legislature to see what ideas, both terrible and not so terrible are percolating under the dome. My peek was pretty quick this week. I present to you LD 1421 or An Act to Amend the Maine Bail Code.

This proposal has been kicking around since early last year and it continues to stay alive just outside of the notice of most lawmakers and citizens. The Legislature has also engaged in a game of sleight of hand in keeping the bill alive. The bill originated in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee in Augusta but was sent to the Judiciary committee. In the words of a legislator that I know, this was done to lessen the scrutiny by law enforcement on this measure.

This proposed legislation will remove, in all but a few cases, bail from being considered for defendants. Sure, an allegation of murder might see you face the prospect of bail, but for most other crimes you will not darken the frame of a jail cell. You will be walking out the door of the jail pretty quickly.

From the summary of the proposed legislation, except in the case of formerly capital offenses, a defendant must be released on personal recognizance with no conditions. Furthermore, the bill does away with any bail conditions like requiring the alleged not engage in any further criminal conduct. In plain language, you can commit as many crimes as possible even after being arrested and the consequences will be zero.

The bill also requires that the needs of the defendant be taken into account when they are arrested. A judicial officer would be required to certify that the arrest and a possible financial condition, like bail, will not negatively impact the defendant. The defendant’s family status would be cataloged as would whether the person cares for someone else or if the person has a job that would be impacted.

Imagine that conversation for a second. Bail commissioner: “You have been arrested for breaking and entering and stealing someone’s jewelry.” Defendant: “But commissioner I have a job working for a cleaning company and will miss work tomorrow helping myself to someone’s goods at a home we are cleaning.” Bail Commissioner: “Well let’s get you back to work to rob someone else.”

I have to wonder if the real author of this bill was not Natasha Irving, the District Attorney of Sagadahoc County. It sounds like something straight out of her prosecutorial guidelines I wrote about last year.

Realistically, this bill is laced with a number of troubling propositions. If it passes this session and becomes a law, we have to only look south to see how this will play out. If you have kept up with the news the state of New York has recently tried something just like this. Cash bail has been done away with for the most part.

What has happened in the Empire State is nothing short of awful. Alleged criminals, in some cases, are being arrested two, three, four times in a day. Pinched and let go in as little time as is possible only to reoffend later. It is like an extreme catch and release program on one of Maine’s lakes except our trout are not scofflaws.

One of the people who submitted witness testimony to the Legislature stated, “Incarceration for even a day or two can have a devastating impact on the lives of low-income people.” What about the impact that crime, even low level, can have on the victim? I am sure that being jailed, even for a short amount of time is awful. I certainly do not want to be locked up which is why I do not go around committing crimes.

That old line, don’t do the crime if you cannot do the time, really is timeless. And it is full of truth. Proponents of this bill will try to say that bail is a low-income problem. In reality, crime is really simple. Don’t do and you don’t have to worry about the things that come after it. That works for all income brackets.

Recently, my wife and I had to pick up the pieces of what could be described as a low-level crime. The total bill for the situation was more than $2,000. Does this mean that, under this proposed bill, if the police had caught the perpetrator they would not have had any bail? Yes. Shouldn’t the pain of committing a crime be as significant to the perpetrator as the pain caused by the crime to the victim?

Apparently not in the eyes of a small group sponsors in Augusta.

Jonathan Crimmins can be reached at j_crimmins@hotmail.com.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.