Bail Bond Reform Lie FINAL series. Part 6: Wrap-up with Dinah Vargas, Samantha Connors and Gerald Madrid.

Hello New Mexico, Welcome to OFF THE CUFF’S Bail Bond Reform Series! I’m Samantha Connors, your Conservative Millennial! Today we Present with Gerald Madrid, of Madrid Bail Bonds. But before we get into it, I’d like to recap and catch everyone up on our previous episodes.

During the 13th century, England devised and implemented the posting of money or property to allow for the less wealthy to be released from jail pending their trial. Typically, the wealthy were able to pay their way out of detainment, while the poor were doomed to remain in jail. Bail bonds changed that dynamic. Although, courts and justice systems have evolved, Bail Bonds remained relatively the same.

A defendant or offender would be arrested for a crime, a judge would determine what bail was necessary to ensure the defendant would return to court for trial with the collateral posted to bail the defendant from jail. This collateral was usually on behalf of a Bail Bondsman.

In turn, a bondsman takes on the burden of ensuring the defendant attends their trial date. An act that costs the taxpayer nothing and is exclusively the job of the bondsman if they are to receive payment for their services for bonding the defendant out of jail.

At least that’s how it worked before 2016.

In 2017, when the BAIL BOND REFORM amendment was instated, there was very little guild to actually implement it and the justice department has been making it up as they go along. Also, exhausting pretrial services prosecutors to assess and evaluate a defendants qualifications for release and present them to a judge.

New Mexico determined the tool to use for the evidence collection was designed by former Hedge fund manager and Philanthropist John Arnold. The PUBLIC SAFETY ASSESSMENT tool or PSA, is a list of criteria that determines if a defendant is a flight risk or danger to the community.

In the state of New Mexico, we no longer use Bondsman to the extent they were used prior to the 2016 legislative session. Now, when and if a judge sets a monetary bond, bondsman are few and far between to be Not to mention, we don’t have the advantage of the bail bondsman’s bounty hunters to bring a defendant that FAILED TO APPEAR to court.

And that is ultimately where we sit, still riddled with crime and no documented change in anything.

Mañana Major is committed to fighting for safer communities, a better judiciary and civil justice reform, and for good reason. Thanks to loopholes in New Mexico’s flawed 2016 bail bond reform bill, even the most dangerous criminals appear to be eligible for pretrial release. While violent crime is skyrocketing and the murder count in New Mexico is at a record-breaking high, some activist judges continue to release criminals —many repeat offenders— back onto our streets. Mañana Mejor is committed to bringing safety back for the people of NM through bail bond reform and a better judiciary. Learn more at MañanaMejor.com.

S1:E002 "Heroes work here!"

Off The Cuff ABQ - Not For The Easily Offended. • By Dinah Vargas • Mar 2