My eighth grade government teacher must have said a million times, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse". I wonder if that includes ignorance of what kind of bail an arrested person will be given to get out of jail. The amount can seem arbitrary.
Say a person travels across Texas not wearing a seatbelt and holding marijuana, then gets pulled over and routed out; I understand the fault is on the individual for breaking the law, because in Texas seatbelts are mandatory and marijuana is illegal.
Then that person is given $505,000 bail. Unless that person is a murderer, terrorist or pedophile, it seems excessive.
Anyway, whatever my opinion is, this situation has happened to a young Massachusetts man, a kind of troubadour magician, who was passing through and visiting family in east Texas. He seems like an affable fellow and could use a little bit of help.
He's known as IE the Magician and has a gofundme page.
Back to my opinion. Some laws prey on those with the least resources or ability to maneuver the legal system, and the disparity between bail and crimes is egregious.
Another law in Texas is that bail amounts are required to be posted as public record and can be viewed at Texas Online Public Information. Comparisons can be made there.
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