Ohio's highest court has rejected a recommendation to allow judges throughout the state use 鈥渞isk-assessment tools鈥� to determine the amount of bail they require from defendants.
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O鈥機onnor says too many people are stuck in jail because they cannot afford bail. She says that shouldn't be happening.
鈥淧eople are of the belief, the public is, that you set a high bail to keep somebody in jail. That鈥檚 not what bail is intended to be," O'Connor says.
One key idea that was considered in the but ultimately rejected was providing "risk-assessment tools" to local courts. The idea was to give judges a list of factors that could help them determine how much bail to require of an offender and the conditions of their release.
鈥淚t is not a mandate and it is not a directive that the judges even have to take into consideration," O'Connor says.
But the panel did recommend that courts look at other alternatives besides cash bail, such as electronic monitoring. The panel also recommend courts determine pretrial supervision based on whether a defendant is a flight risk or is dangerous, and not their ability to pay.
The recommendations came from the panel put together last summer.
