Constitutional Law

The 8th amendment was proposed on September 25, 1789 and a year and a half later it was ratified  (December 15, 1791). The Original text states “Article the tenth ..... Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights#Amendment_VIII)

In Colonial America, bail law was based off English law. Some of the colonies simply guaranteed their subjects the protections of British law. In 1776, after the Declaration of Independence, those which had not already done so, enacted their own versions of bail law.

Section 9 of Virginia’s 1776 Constitution states “excessive bail ought not to be required…” In 1785, the following was added, “Those shall be let to bail who are apprehended for any crime not punishable in life or limb…But if a crime be punishable by life or limb, or if it be manslaughter and there be good cause to believe the party guilty thereof, he shall not be admitted to bail.”

Section 29 of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 states “Excessive bail shall not be exacted for bailable offenses.”

The Eighth Amendment, to the Constitution, like the English Habeas Corpus Act of 1678, requires that a suspect “be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation” and thus enabling a suspect to demand bail if accused of a bailable offense. (http://californiafugitiverecoveryacademy.com/?page_id=348)

Bail law in the United States remained relatively unchanged from 1789 until 1966. In 1966, the U.S. Congress passed the Bail Reform Act, which was designed to allow for the release of defendants with as small a financial burden as possible. Before signing the act, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech that contained stunning examples of how the bail system had hurt people in the past. Here’s one particularly disturbing example: “A man spent two months in jail before being acquitted. In that period, he lost his job, he lost his car, he lost...