Does a person have a constitutional right to bond in a criminal case?

Answer 1

No. The Eighth Amendment states in part ". . .excessive bail shall not be imposed. . ." The federal courts have interpreted the Constitution to mean that persons accused of non-capital crimes have a right to bail, but that persons accused of capital crimes do not. The sole Eight Amendment right regarding bail is that it not be excessive. What is "excessive " is determined in light of all the circumstances surrounding the matter and cannot be given a fixed amount for each crime. Some states have passed laws or adopted constitutions that guarantee the right to bail in every case of an offense against that state's criminal law, whether it is capital or non-capital. The theory is that the US Constitution in prohibiting excessive bail impliedly means there must be bail of some sort. Being out on bail is important to our system guaranteeing a fair trial, preparing a defense, and not punishing accused persons who have not yet been found guilty of any crime. Excessive bail amounts would have the effect of keeping an accused person in jail in violation of those rights. If the government wanted to keep a person in jail before trial in violation of the accused's rights and if the imposition of excessive bail would have that effect, isn't complete denial of bail the same as excessive bail? So it is arguable that reasonable bail should be available in every case. Some accused persons would say that excessive bail is better than no bail at all, because at least there would be some hope of raising it. This is an instance where a state law seems to be in conflict with the US Constitution as interpreted by federal courts yet is not unconstitutional. This is because the Eighth Amendment gives individuals a personal right and if a state chooses to increase the scope of that right, it is free to do so. No state would be able pass a law that denied bail in serious, but not capital, crimes, such as bank robbery, because that would be contrary to Eighth Amendment rights to bail in all non-capital cases. A state may enlarge personal freedoms, but may not reduce them.