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NPR investigates Lubbock bail system: Should taxpayers foot a $7K incarceration bill for stealing $30 worth of blankets?

About half a dozen readers this morning fowarded me the link to this excellent piece from National Public Radio titled "Bail Burden Keeps US Jails Stuffed with Inmates," which features the Lubbock County Jail as its prime example. The story opens by describing the case of Leslie Chew, a homeless man arrested for stealing four blankets worth $30 from a grocery store to stay warm while he was living in his station wagon last winter. At the time the reporter spoke to him last August, Lubbock taxpayers had spent $7,068 to incarcerate Mr. Chew because he could not make bail.NPR also documents the overarching (and improper?) influence bail bondsmen appear to have over pretrial release decisions in Lubbock County, as evidenced by this notable excerpt:There are about a dozen bail bond companies in Lubbock, serving a rather small population of 250,000...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 22, 2010 (boomark / email).