You've all seen the big thread about Virginians for the Preservation of Bail by now. A man by the name of Mike Donovan (along with other very involved folks) was part of that valiant effort to stem the tide of PTRS in that state.
Now, Mr. Donovan is working (and living) in Colorado to assist us with our fight against PTRS, here.
I was with Mike Donovan, his team, and about 15 other bondsmen & women from around the state, on April 21st., at the Secretary of State's office in Denver. In conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General, a "Title Setting Board", which establishes whether submitted ballot initiatives will appear on the ballot and how such initiatives will be worded was convened. Obviously, how an initiative is worded can have a significant and substantial impact on whether the voters will agree with the intent of the initiative on election day.
Mike Donovan testified in support of our initiative. The board approved the ballot initiative and adopted more favorable language than we could ever have hoped or asked for!
Mr. Donovan states, "When Colorado voters go to the polls in November, they will be able to vote on whether criminal welfare programs should be allowed to release violent criminals, without any guarantee that they would come back to court. Through this initiative, we will stop the radical pretrial plan to add Colorado to the list of states that have eliminated commercial bail. We simply will not stand by while criminal welfare programs attack our agents and their businesses!"
We, in Colorado, have an opportunity to make commercial bail stronger, healthier, more viable, and more relevant to the judicial system than ever.
We have an opportunity to 'help' PTRS conform more closely to their original mandate, which (40 years ago) was to work with the indigent, those for whom commercial bail was out of reach.
We have an opportunity to 'help' PTRS understand that Colorado voters don't want rapists and murderers released into pretrial programs at their (the taxpayer's) expense.
We have an opportunity to teach the public that they can put the brakes on PTRS in Colorado.
With very favorable language in our initiative, our next step is to obtain the required number of signatures to put the initiative on the ballot in November. This means that we have to collect at least 75,000 signatures, statewide. As of a couple weeks ago, we were tracking numbers well ahead of the anticipated schedule, in that regard.
I've met Mike Donovan three times, now. I continue to be impressed with his knowledge of the legislative system. He and his team are extremely savvy. The 'favorable language' he speaks of, was in his words "nothing less than historic." Despite his experience and his knowledge of the system, I could see he was nearly shocked that we achieved what we did.
The wording on the ballot is a small step but will be HUGE in the big picture shortly down the road.
We have a fight ahead and it's going to require some of our time or money or both. The battle plans have been drawn and refined from recent experience in Virginia. We have an experienced team who believe in bail and in our fight. I and many others trust them implicitly. I'm asking you to do the same.
(The following is taken from "Americans For The Preservation of Bail" website.)
"The bail industry in the United States is under attack, and at risk is the integrity of our entire criminal justice system.
The community of bail agents must be organized to protect and preserve bail across the country. Americans for the Preservation of Bail exists specifically for this purpose.
A national membership organization, the predominate role of Americans for the Preservation of Bail will be to serve it's membership by engaging in various legislative and regulatory exercises to advance the interests of bail agents, their families, bail professionals and bail related surety companies.
Your membership dues will work for you - by supporting a national structure that could be leveraged to advance bail in state legislature across the country.
Active in Virginia, Colorado, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Kentucky, Americans for the Preservation of Bail stands ready to assis bail agents across the U.S. in fighting against dangerous pretrial release practices and in supporting legislation that strengthens the commercial bail industry. Won't you join us today?"
www.preservebail.comI am unsure as to whether this site's COC allows the mentioning of other industry associations that are actively soliciting memberships and funds. If not, would a moderator please contact me and I'll delete the above mentioned site's statements and website info.
I felt the issue was of such importance to our industry (both our industries...bail and bail enforcement) that it was worth bringing this info to the group.
Professional regards.
David Platt
aka: Bailagent100
