When an accused defendant is brought before a judge to schedule a trial, the judge may release the defendant on his or her “own recognizance” or the judge may demand that the defendant post bail, an amount of cash that the defendant must give to the court and that will be forfeited if the defendant fails to appear. Many defendants don’t have the cash so they borrow the money from a bail bondsperson. So if the defendant fails to appear, the bail bondsperson is out the money, unless the defendant is recaptured within 90–180 days. To recover their money, a bail bondsperson will hire bail enforcement agents, also known as bounty hunters, to track down the missing defendant. If the bounty hunters don’t find the defendant, they don’t get paid.
a. If defendants released on their own recognizance fail to appear, they are pursued by the police, but if they are released on bail borrowed from a bondsperson and they fail to appear they will be pursued by bounty hunters. Which type of defendant do you think is more likely to fail to appear and which type is more likely to be recaptured if they do fail to appear? Why?
b. Perhaps surprisingly, bounty hunters tend to be quite courteous and respectful even to defendants who have tried to skip town. Can you think of one reason why?