The Indiana Constitution currently requires all criminal suspects to be offered bail unless they are charged with murder or treason. Unfortunately, our society is seeing more and more instances of dangerous suspects released on bail, only to commit more violent crimes.
Senator Bohacek said in a recent release, “That’s why I co-authored Senate Joint Resolution 1, which would allow a court to deny bail for certain dangerous suspects.”
It is common for federal courts to deny bail to dangerous individuals charged with federal crimes, and there are currently 22 states that allow courts to deny bail to arrestees in some circumstances, and nine states don’t guarantee bail to any arrestees.
Senator Bohacek said, “In order to protect Hoosiers from violent crime, SJR 1 seeks to give Indiana’s criminal justice system the flexibility to use a policy that most of the country already uses.”
If added to the Indiana Constitution, SJR 1 would make clear to Indiana judges that there are circumstances when it is acceptable to hold a suspect without bail because releasing them poses a substantial risk to the public.
Click here to learn more about SJR 1.
