By Cynthia Hoang-Duong
ATLANTA, GA – The Los Angeles Times editorial board published an editorial this week with a bold headline: “Trump should not have to pay bail.”
The former president surrendered Thursday at the Fulton County Jail following his indictment by a Georgia grand jury, charging him with 13 felony counts connected to allegations that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
The Los Angeles Times reported the former President was released on a $200,000 bond the same day.
Despite the serious felony charges, the editorial board authors argued Trump should not have to pay for bail because “no one should have to pay it.”
Comparing the current bail bond system to its original use in medieval England, where it served as a refundable payment that ensured the accused appeared in court, the article claimed bail in contemporary America is “unjust” and “nonsensical.”
This is because of economic inequalities present in the criminal justice system due to its reliance on wealth rather than the individual’s guilt and public safety concerns, The Times added.
Labeling Trump’s payment as a “charade” and “mere ritual,” the editorial board argued the bail fabricates an illusion the system treats wealthy and powerful individuals and the average accused equally.
The writers predicted it is unlikely that he will be in custody in the jail before his trial, also known by its address as Rice Street, given that he does not violate his release conditions.
According to the editorial board, “Trump is on the privileged flip side of that unjust wealth-based bail system. For him, bail is an easily affordable ransom that permits him to avoid the physical and psychiatric deterioration in store for people held in jail.”
Citing the poor and violent conditions in the jail, including a statistic of seven people who died this year, the editorial described the death of several individuals who did not possess the same amount of wealth.
For example, said the Times, despite only being charged for spitting at an officer—a misdemeanor battery—Lashawn Thompson was taken into custody because he was unable to afford 10 percent—$250—of his $2,500 bail. After months in jail, he died due to his declining mental and physical health condition, without ever going to trial.
Similarly, Montay Stinson, who was arrested for second-degree burglary, was found unresponsive in the jail, after he failed to pay his bail of $3,000, the Times editorial board said, adding just last week, Alexander Hawkins died in the Rice Street facility because he could not afford his $5,000 bail for shoplifting charges.
Such examples, according to the editorial, illuminate the hundreds of “pretrial” individuals in Fulton County Jail who have not been convicted nor sentenced yet, who are held in custody while awaiting their criminal proceedings solely because they cannot afford bail.
Because of this system, according to the editorial board, such individuals face unemployment, lack of access to medication, and loss of contact with their families.
The editorial also suggested that because of the fear of such losses and the poor jail conditions, many individuals are coerced into plea deals—even if they are innocent.
Looking at the broader picture, the authors emphasized this economic inequality in the bail system is not an isolated phenomenon in Fulton County, but the reality across the United States, including Los Angeles County jails.
The Los Angeles Times editorial board concluded by reiterating that Trump should not have to pay the bail because no one should have to pay bail.
While acknowledging that judges should impose release conditions based on the individual’s actions, the authors critiqued the bail system, writing, “It makes no sense at all to make one of those conditions paying bail, which means virtually nothing to the rich, but loss of liberty, and sometimes life, to the poor.”
