PBUS recently posted a letter to the editor from a retired judge with the caption, "When your life experience includes decades as a judge, court administrator, and lawyer, you understand the purpose of secured bail."
I read that letter and realized, once again, why we need certain judges simply to retire to get bail reform done in America. In fact, the only thing clear from this judge's letter (and his vast experience) is that he participated fully in the very thing America so desperately wants to reform today. He was part of the problem. Maybe even a big part, which is probably why he felt the need to justify his many years of accepting money bail in a letter.
I know a lot of other judges, judges like Eric Washington, Charles Daniels, Truman Morrison, Scott Bales, and many more, who quickly spotted the inherent unfairness in the money bail system. They are helping to lead this generation of reform, and, in the end, they will create a safe, fair, and effective pretrial justice system in America.
This quote is probably wrong, but I think Alan Dershowitz once said that often a person's 20 years of experience involves one year of doing it wrong, and nineteen years of repeating the mistakes.
Man, that Alan D is one smart dude.
