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The Philadelphia Inquirer
Editorial: City Money
Dogging the bail cheats
With the city owed $1 billion in bail money, Philadelphia officials may be tempted to call on bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman to help even the score. After all, the flamboyant reality-TV bail bondsman most often returns his quarry to face the music - and he even leads them in prayer.
If only the day-to-day realities of a big-city criminal-justice system were that simple. In fact, there are no easy fixes for the city's staggering bail-forfeiture problem.
But that shouldn't stop officials from doing a far better job of meeting the challenges posed by criminal defendants awaiting trial.
The revelations of unpaid bail reported in Sunday's Inquirer underscore the waste and inefficiencies of city government at a time when Mayor Nutter is looking to cut services or raise taxes to balance his budget.
So it's good to hear court officials like Common Plea Court President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe finally sound the alarm over the bail owed by thousands who failed to show for court, creating a separate cost.
Court officials had to make several stabs at a tally of bail dating back three decades. That's evidence of previous shoddy record keeping in City Hall, if not outright indifference to the mounting bail debt.
As head of the office that handles court files and bail records, Clerk of Quarter Sessions Vivian T. Miller has failed to maintain basic records, let alone account for all the funds. She's also fresh from a dust-up with the president judge, who blasted Miller's oversight of millions due the city and others - some of it forfeited bail money.
City officials say Miller's staff also hampered city lawyers' efforts to go after bail debtors simply by failing to forward their names to the City Solicitor's Office. Miller says she did all that was required, which is to send the deadbeats a letter. And, big surprise, they didn't respond.
Credit Nutter with trying to do something. The mayor plans to hire a private collections agency to go after forfeited bail. Much of that debt may not be collectable, but even pulling in a small percentage of what's owed would help the city with its budget shortfall.
The bail-forfeiture saga has prompted critics - chiefly, city prosecutors - to raise the larger question of the shortcomings of Philadelphia's self-financed bail system.
Since the city all but ended the role of private bail bond firms decades ago over price-gouging and other unsavory practices, defendants have been allowed to put up only 10 percent of their bail. If they skip court, the city often is out the remaining 90 percent. By comparison, New York requires the entire bail up front, usually provided by a bail bondsman at steep interest.
With Philadelphia jails overflowing, it's hard to argue that defendants make bail too readily under the current system. So the city's focus should be on making sure fewer people skip bail and more come to court. That's best done by city warrant officers, rather than bounty hunters.
Collecting forfeited bail funds could help provide the city resources to assure that more defendants get their day in court.
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Heritage and Profession Together
J.G. Marshall
MARSHALL FUGITIVE SERVICE
Lic. # 2008-392
Moderator
Its the Irish in my mind that keeps me sane,
and the Irish in my heart that keeps me strong.
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