the.com/bail
the price of freedom set by people who've never met you
means To bail is to pay money so someone can be released from jail while awaiting trial, or more loosely to abandon a situation, person, or commitment — and bail is also the money itself.
from From Old French 'baillier,' to take charge of or deliver, rooted in Latin 'bajulare,' to carry a burden. The legal sense grew from this idea of one person taking custody of another's freedom — literally holding it for them. The unrelated 'bail out' for scooping water from a boat comes from a different French word, 'baille,' a bucket; the two streams of meaning have long since splashed into each other in everyday speech.
- roman roots
- Romans used it; some defendants pledged their own bodies
- cash bias
- It jails the poor and frees the rich pre-trial
- bondsman cut
- Bail agents keep their 10% fee even if you appear
- banned spots
- Most countries abolished for-profit bail; only US, Philippines keep it
- jump risk
- Skipping bail unleashes bounty hunters with surprising legal power
george floyd bail fund — minneapolis-based organization that raised $30 million to bail out protesters arrested in 2020
bail bonds industry — $2 billion us industry where companies guarantee court appearance for fees, primarily in non-reform states