Pretrial Release Association Vows to Destroy Commercial Bail

Pretrial Release Association Moves to Put Commercial Bail Bondsmen Out of Business

http://pursuitmag.com/2009/07/pretrial- ... -business/

The video says it all!

God knows that I do not always agree with PBUS but this issue is very very important, please read and repost to other commercial bail professionals and service providers!!!!

Scott Harrell
CompassPoint Investigations

_________________
Scott H.

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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.

You can thank the liberals in the whitehouse and congress for this. I screamed bloody murder, as did a few others, back when Hussein took over the whitehouse. HR1, the wonderful stimulus package, (Do you feel stimulated?), contained something like 7 BILLION dollars for pretrial release. I think after catching hell, they cut it all the way down to like 4 BILLION dollars.

So, on one side, you have pretrial and they are gubberment funded. On the other side, you have the bail industry, made up of a few thousand people like me that are doing their best to make a living and provide a free to the taxpayer service. You tell me who is going to win.

We are sunk folks. The government owns the banks. They own the auto industry. They will soon own healthcare. Why the fuck would they care about bail bondsmen and BEAs losing their livelyhood. The goal here is to put everyone on the same level playing field with everyone on the gubberment teat. End of story. The time for fighting it was over the last few years. Now it is too late. The damage is done.

Dont get me wrong, Im going to scream and holler all I can. But all it will do is put me on the teat with a sore throat.

It seems to be a lost cause for sure... but I just can't understand why the powers that be cannot see that a completely free service, provided by a licensed and regulated industry (commercial bail) can do a better job than a system using a very large chunk of gov money (our money actually) to do a job that they cannot do in the first place.

Commercial bail costs are zero to the legal system and in fact since we police our own skips at our own costs I can't see where the system can loose and if fact should make out rather well since pickups and forfeitures are paid by the bonding companies and again take nothing from the public treasury.... isn't this rather obvious to everyone in the legal system???? What is it they are not seeing or better yet... what is it that I am not seeing. If they think they can make a dollar off doing it themselves, how long does it take for them to see that it is not working and in fact is causing far, far more problems and costing far, far more money than allowing the private sector to run the business... hell, if there is corruption in the bail industry it would seem to me a lot easier to regulate us than the criminal element. If we are shown to be corrupt or break the rules... kick us out of the business, but allow the good guys in our industry to do the job we have proven we can do at a cost that cannot be beat. Period.

For what it is worth, I think I am going to approach DCJS in Virginia and try and get involved in a positive way... I certainly have the time and if they put me out of business I just might be able to get a job with DCJS!!! Sort of like retiring from truckin' and going to work for the DOT at the scale house. Sort of gives a new meaning to the term... fox in the chicken house.

Someone above my pay grade needs to explain to me why this is not completely evident especially give the circumstances as depicted in PA...

... then again, I could probably create my own TV show.... I have a black leather cowboy hat and I am fat.

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Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

Let me break it down for you all...

As bondsmen and women, we take our responsibility seriously. We provide a service at no cost to the tax payer and the only cost is born by the family that raised the defendant, in my mind, where the costs belong. Because the court system hold us to the fire to find our skips or pay the bonds, we feel that returning the skip to the court system is what there focus is, well it isn't.

It is about money, greed, and an attitude of "I am smarter than you and if you don't get it, I understand, because you are not smart enough to get it, and that is why we must think for you"

If someone is in jail, it costs them money. If someone does not return to court, it doesn't cost them a dime, because they aren't looking for them. If they were to look for them, it would cost them money, so they won't. If they run away from here because of a warrant, well let them run and become somebody elses burden. That is why most jurisdictions will not extradite unless bondsmen are paying the bill.

Individuals on Pre-Trial release are not monitored. If they are on a home detention device, and it is violated, they fax in a report, but there is nobody to act in a timely manner. They will call the defendant at home, but if you believe the cops come running, that is a fantasy, because jailing them costs money.

Individuals on Pre-Trial Release are not being redeemed in any manner, not education, not corrective action, not drug counseling. They are on their own. Their own video shows that they feel that Bondsmen are not qualified to determine who does and who does not get released. They cry that the defendant is poor and can't afford bail. But that same defendant has a cell phone with no job, tennis shoes that I can't afford, and rims that cost more than his car.

As Bondsmen, we talk to the family of defendants, we talk to the abused and battered wives and girlfriends, we here the pleas from parents to leave him in there, so at least we know that he is safe. We hear the cries of parents that are afraid their kid will over dose on the street because there is no help available that isn't a rubber stamp, drug class diploma mill. We here from the family that the defendant can't be trusted, will run and avoid court at all costs and that they WILL NOT be responsible for them. But we are not qualified to make a compassionate, professional, cost benefit ratio decision in the best interest of all concerned. Pre-Trial will make that decision for them and just release the defendant with no penalty for their actions, no family to ride heard on them and nobody with skin in the game but the victims.

I have been fighting them for years. Those that have attended classes that I spoke at will recall me ringing this bell years ago, to unite and form a cohesive legislative unit that does not disparage one faction of this industry in favor of another. I have testified at legislative sessions where they presented and testified to bogus statistics and could not provide a source or justify any of them, but could only change the subject. The Baltimore Sun paid one of these professional liars, a University of Maryland Law Professor, $500,000 to come up with a study supporting their push for Pre-Trial Release, so does anybody have a clue what side of the fence this "Scientific" study came up on?

We are sending mixed messages to the general public when we waffle on crime, with some judges being strict and others being ultra liberal. In Charles Coounty, Maryland, if you get Judge Nally, you are going to jail. If you get Judge "Cut 'em Loose" Cooper, you get a free ride. This is not unknown to the criminal element. When our county had a very strict and consistent judicial response to crime, the criminal element knew not to come down here and get caught messing up, or you will pay. As a result of this reputation, we had less crime, less police officers, less financial strain etc. and we felt SAFE in our own homes. You never even saw signs for burglar alarm companies. Now that the pendulum has gone the other way, there is rampant crime, gangs are flourishing, court is a joke, Cops are upset because they get criminal summons as opposed to arrest warrants, and we have tax paying citizens afraid to come out of their own homes or go shopping at the mall ( there are 7 recognized gangs fighting for control of the mall) and we all pay.

What did we save? This experiment failed, it doesn't work, there is no Utopia, hard work and integrity gets it done. Being responsible for ourselves and the children we raise, a consistent judiciary that is tough on crime SAVES money in the long run. We didn't have ADHD when we were kids, because we weren't allowed to!
They are trying desperately to take over everything that was once this great country, and they are killing it.

The next war we have will be on our own soil.

Scott

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R.E. "Scott" MacLean III

"Leaders are like Eagles, you never see them in a flock, but one at a time"

Chesapeake Group Investigations, Inc.
Chesapeake Bail Bonds
877-574-0500
301-392-1100 (fax)
301-392-1900 (Office)

Extremely well said.

Scott, I want you to know that I am ready and willing to do whatever I can to help you and others in this fight for right in our industry. I have some free time and I am very interested in getting involved. I will meet with you and anyone else that is interested in this project and although I would have to make arrangements on some occasions because of a home-bound spouse, I will give you as much time as possible to help.

I can certainly write letters and attend meetings in and around the Richmond Va. area. I can certainly drive to Richmond and talk with whomever is in the power seat regarding our industry. I will face off with anyone if I am convinced of my position and it is just. I believe you and several others on here can do a lot in this struggle and although it seems lost, maybe we can pull the fat from the fire.

I know it is an uphill battle but it is one worth fighting and my door is open at any time. We are also close to DC where I suppose a national push to reform this industry could ultimately be staged.

I'm just a small town business man who believes we can turn this industry into a positive and needed asset to the judicial system beginning in local jurisdictions and moving all the way to Federal level.

I think we all will agree that something has to be done or it will get done for us......... and probably not in our favor.

... "a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"

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Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

I am going to try to talk to several friends of mine who are associated with local LE and the court system, including several police chiefs, county sheriffs, district attorneys and a couple of Circuit court judges and just see if I can generate enough interest to approach state government regarding bail reform that if implemented will reduce overall costs, increase efficiency and simplify the overall process. I know it can be done if we put our collective heads together and can get past the doors that seem to remain closed.

I think everyone in the judicial system would like to implement a simpler and more efficient process regarding bail, one that removes the burden on LE and the courts and places it in a cost and process effective arena that although may remain under the control of state agencies, will operate with little or no burden on those agencies.

I have a friend and associate who happens to be a very good attorney, owns a bonding company and has friends in high places... I intend on calling him and seeing if I can light a fire under his but on this issue.

I will try and start a post in future weeks that will update progress in this endeavor. I have no idea if I can implement any sort of positive change in this system but I want to try.

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Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

I agree.

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

The biggest problem we face in this fight is this... Our opposition is organized, motivated and very well funded. We, as a whole, are none of these things. Cuss me if you want, but facts are facts. If you were to ask the majority of bail bond and recovery agents about this issue, I doubt you'd find three out of five who are even aware of what's going on.

I can't help but to remind folks of what we accomplished here in Missouri this past legislative session, when just a small number of agents stepped up and made some noise at the capitol. We stopped legislation that would have effectively put smaller agencies all across the state out of business. While our fight here is far from over, we still have that one shining example of what can be done under a united front.

Having said that, I feel behooved to reiterate that the problem we face with Pre-trial is national, and much bigger than any one small group can ever hope to thwart. This industry is going to have to come together, setting aside all personal differences, and fight this dragon as a unit, or we will in fact lose our livelihoods.

And before anyone says it, I'm not advocating unionization. I have my own personal reasons for that.

And Scott, you're right. The next one will be right here at home.

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Doug DiNatale Bail Bonds
Vienna, MO
(573) 368-6672

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

That makes me feel sick . . . why does not the Sheeple see what they are doing?

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN