accountability
Beyond the headlines: Why Tennessee's Amendment 1 carries a hidden price tag for families, jails, and taxpayers. The public discussion has focused heavily on a handful of serious crimes. The actual constitutional language goes much further. Amendment 1 would allow bail to be denied, when “the proof is
accountability
The Lee Gilley case should concern anyone who believes that a criminal justice system must have consequences when a defendant deliberately violates the conditions of release. Gilley is charged with capital murder in the death of his pregnant wife, Christa Bauer Gilley. He had been released from custody with a
Bail Enforcement
Beyond the Paper: Why Bail Enforcement is the Essential Anchor of Pretrial Accountability How private surety bonds, statutory authority under Mississippi law, and dedicated recovery agents keep the criminal justice system functioning. Most people understand what happens when a bail bond gets someone out of jail. Very few understand what
Bail
A Framework for Evidence-Based Professional Governance Results-Based Ideology begins with a principle that is simple to state but difficult to practice honestly: activity is not the same thing as accomplishment. The professional surety bail industry invests substantial time, money, personnel, and organizational energy into education, legislative advocacy, public
accountability
The New York Post just published a clear-eyed takedown of the “evidence-based” diversion model that helped shape bail reform and soft-on-crime policies across blue cities. The numbers never matched the marketing. Ari Hoffman’s recent New York Post opinion piece lays out what many of us
accountability
The future of professional surety bail will not be determined only by the battles we win today, but by what we leave capable of confronting tomorrow. The first three discussions in this series examined the political environment surrounding professional surety bail, the capacity required to operate within it, and the
accountability
What Would Machiavelli Tell the Bail Profession?Five centuries after Niccolò Machiavelli wrote about power, perception, alliances, and survival, his lessons raise uncomfortable questions for professional surety bail. Niccolò Machiavelli died nearly five hundred years ago, long before television, social media, political action committees, professional associations, or the modern American
accountability
The first two discussions focused on recognizing the political environment around professional surety bail and building the capacity to operate within it. The next step is influence—and influence depends on whether the profession can make itself useful beyond its own interests. Professional surety bail operates inside a much larger
accountability
Recognizing the forces surrounding professional surety bail is only the beginning. The harder question is whether the profession has built the capacity to do anything about them. In the first discussion, What Would Machiavelli Tell the Bail Profession?, I used Niccolò Machiavelli to examine the political environment surrounding professional surety
accountability
Five centuries after Niccolò Machiavelli wrote about power, perception, alliances, and survival, his lessons raise uncomfortable questions for professional surety bail. Niccolò Machiavelli died nearly five hundred years ago, long before television, social media, political action committees, professional associations, or the modern American criminal justice system. He knew nothing about
Bail Bonds
President Donald Trump again placed bail policy on the national agenda during his September 9 speech in Dallas, pledging that his administration would continue pursuing an end to cashless bail. This was not the first time President Trump has addressed the issue. His public record on bail stretches back years
accountability
Two years of progress are on the ballot this November, and PBUS is leading the effort to protect it from Washington to your hometown Bail is on the ballot this November, whether the candidates say the word or not. Over the past two years the country has moved back toward