Your Right to Bail is in the United States Constitution

After an arrest a detained person is brought before an impartial magistrate (a judge) and has a right to a reasonable condition of release. It is the law. The only exceptions to bail are for capital charges, armed drug trafficking, kidnapping and some federal terrorist charges. At the bond hearing you have the right to be represented by an attorney. The magistrate must set a reasonable bond. A reasonable bond is one that is possible for the individual, not some arbitrary amount or standard bond. Pre-trial release is a favored program in Fort Lauderdale, where it has been recently expanded to permit non-indigent criminal defendants to be released with GPS monitors and travel restrictions. All criminal courts in South Florida hold bond hearings 365 days a year. Miami criminal courts, both federal and Florida criminal courts, set conditions of bond that permit the posting of a guarantee by personal surety, Fort Lauderdale (Broward County) does not: there you are required to post the cash amount or have a bond agent issue a “power number” for the bond amount.

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