Everyone remember Dylan Roof? The Psychopath that tried to start a race war by massacring nine people in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston NC. Well, he's in the news again.
However, this time, it would appear that he is on the receiving end of violence. At around 7:45 A.M. on August 4 Roof was attacked by one of his cellmates on his way to the shower.
The offending inmate, Dwayne Stafford, sucker punched Roof while his guards were away. Roof seems not to have suffered serious injuries, and he and his attorney have chosen not to press charges. However, this story became popular online for two reasons. Stafford is black, and he has since been released from prison.
"Dwayne Stafford, 26, was released from the Charleston County Detention Center on $100,000 bond the day after he punched Roof in the jail’s shower area, police said.
Stafford had been behind bars since January 2015, when he was arrested on first-degree assault and strong arm robbery charges. Records do not show who paid for Stafford’s release," wait... wait we need to back up.
This guy has been in jail for 20 months waiting for trial. That's awful. That's an actual travesty. What's more, I'm pretty sure that's actually unconstitutional.
And don't give me "He's a criminal so he should be punished." He was only ever arrested. He hasn't been convicted of anything. I don't care if he is or isn't a violent criminal, he has a right to a chance to defend himself.
Okay, I need to calm down. Let me try and explain this more eloquently.
Staford was arrested last year on charges of first-degree assault and strong arm robbery, both felonies. Under North Carolinian law a magistrate determines the conditions of Stafford's pretrial release.
That particular magistrate decided that Stafford pretrial release would be conditional to, among other things, being able to post a bail of $100,000. Stafford could not pay the bail, and was sent to jail to await his trial. Twenty months later someone donates the $100,000, and he is a free man until his trial.
Does anyone else see a problem here?
This all comes down to one thing, bail. I hate bail. That may sound weird to some of you. Others may be asking what is bail?
Bail is a monetary amount that an accused criminal puts up to ensure that they appear in court. If a person fails to do so, then the money is forfeit to the courts.
Traditionally the purpose of bail is to assure a defendant's appearance in court. However, this is not the only thing a court can decide for a person awaiting trial. A magistrate could choose to: release a person on their own recognizance (their promise to appear), they can force them to stay in jail until their trial date, they can issue an unsecured bond (which means that they don't have to pay it unless they fail to appear).
Secured Bail Bonds, the type I have been focusing on, have proven to be problematic.
Let's take Stafford's case for an example. Stafford has spent the last 20 months in prison awaiting his trial date. He has been sitting around in jail because he was not able to post $100,000.
Let's say that he was able to pay bail initially. What would be different? He would be hanging around relatively free for the last 20 months. His only limitations would be whatever conditions the magistrate put down.
An accused violent criminal would be free just to walk around for 20 months. That is a problem; a person should not lose a year of their life because they have less money than some arbitrarily set number.
So why does it exist?
Well back in Ye Olden times, bail was created existed essentially so that landed people wouldn't have to wait in jail for their trial. It was an agreement between the elite and the sheriff, saying that the accused would agree to relinquish some of their money in exchange for not having to stay in jail. Bail was not created to help the average layman.
It doesn't even take that much thought to figure out why bail sucks. It punishes people for being accused of a crime, while at the same time giving possible criminals the opportunity to escape their duty to appear in court.
It does not even make that much sense in the context of the American legal system. Paying to get out of prison? That doesn't seem to fall in with American values, does it?
In my opinion, and others agree with me, secured bail bonds should be done away with. A magistrate should only make a decision as to whether an accused criminal is too much of a risk to await court. Then tell the accused whether they will await their court date in prison or they are released on their own recognizance.
That may sound crazy, but I believe that it is a better alternative to the system we have now. But again like I said in the "Why I'm Going to Hate This Election" article I recommend everyone reading this to do your own research. Look into it. Please make your decisions about it.
Well, I think that's enough grandstanding for one week. This is probably a presentable article. But, what was I talking about originally?
Oh yeah, this Motherf- Dylan Roof got punched in a bathroom... Excuse me while I struggle to contain my sympathy.
But in all seriousness, it is terrible to ambush anyone. No matter what you think of someone or what serious disagreements with them you have. Violence should always be the last resolution.
Even when it comes to a pathetic excuse for a human being like Roof. Oops guess I wasn't quite done there.
