Word: bails
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...laws to cover smugglers, whose illegal trade has grown so large that it is threatening to damage the shaky Indian economy. So far, nearly 400 suspects have been rounded up in the government's anti-smuggling campaign. Under the act, they can be detained for two years without bail while their affairs are being investigated...
Wright remains unfazed by the often personal attacks. He holds that it is unfair to let those who can afford high bail buy their way out of pre-trial imprisonment while sending to jail those who cannot produce the money. He likens the bail system to the draft exemption laws which existed during the Civil War. "For three hundred dollars a man could purchase an exemption from conscription to the Union Army during the Civil War. In New York, for example, this meant that those who were sent off to die in the war were mostly the poor, notably immigrants...
Wright maintains that he applies standard judicial principles in setting bail. If a defendant appears to have "roots in society"--generally defined as having family in the local area or holding a job--Wright says bail should be set in accordance with his financial means, even if this means no bail. "Bail is not a fine, it is not intended to serve as a punishment," he says. "Bail is designed to insure appearance in court." He further charges that lengthy pre-trial incarceration violates the spirit of the constitution...
JUDGE WRIGHT does not believe that incidents of bail jumping or even of crimes committed while a defendant was free on bail, prove his bail policies invalid. He views the issue purely as a question of constitutionality, of equal justice, and holds that only by maintaining his present bail policy will he be correctly performing his duties as a judge. He describes his actions as part of a general effort to meet a need for what he terms "sociological jurisprudence"--which he says means that in order for a judge to dispense real justice, he must take into account...
...Although bail reform has been Wright's most publicized cause, it is not his only one. He is also a proponent of requiring psycho-analysis of potential judges before they are appointed. "We judges are just ordinary people. We are not transformed by becoming judges and we take with us to the bench the same prejudices we held before...