Aug. 4, 1964 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy urged a revision of bail-bond procedures today, saying that thousands of persons were needlessly held in jail because “they can’t pay for their freedom.”
“The rich man and the poor man do not receive equal justice in our courts,” he said, “and in no area is this more evident than in the matter of bail.”
Kennedy and James Bennett, director of the Bureau of Prisons, testified before a Senate subcommittee in support of three bills that would make it easier for the impoverished to gain pre-trial release.
But the executive director of the American Society of Professional Bail Bondsmen, George L. Will of Miami, contended that the enactment of the proposed laws would “turn this country into a nation of fugitives.”
The three bills would give more authority for courts to release defendants on their own recognizance; would provide that time spent in jail be credited to any jail sentence received by a defendant; and would allow a defendant to deposit 10% of the bail set by the court and gain release.
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