Milwaukee City Wire

Racine attorney Brian P. Dimmer wants voters to know he’s convinced there are no shortcuts one can take when it comes to keeping the community safe.

"Really, [the cash bail out premise] is an illusion that if this person posts this amount of money, [then] our communities are going to be safer,” he told WUWM this week. “We need to take out this notion that we can figure out who's safe and who's not safe in the community by how much money they can afford."

All across the state, the issue of cash bail has become a hot-button topic this election season. Voters have been bombarded by political ads on the issue, especially in the race for U.S. Senate, where Democratic candidate Mandela Barnes has taken a stance that incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson argues could ultimately lead to even more crime and mayhem.

“The cash bail is something that comes up when somebody is arrested and charged with a crime [and] is typically determined at one of the first times you show up to court,” Dimmer said. “It is an amount of money that a person pays to remain in the community instead of jail while their case is resolved. It's designed to essentially be an assurance that a person is going to return to court.”

As part of his crusade to educate voters on the issue, Dimmer outlined how the cash bail system can serve as an alternative to jail time in some cases, namely instances where first-time offenders are involved. In every one of those situations the decision about what comes next is left in the hands of the judge, who is entrusted with determining whether or not to enforce cash bail and what the appropriate amount will be.

Ultimately, the decision centers on how much of an immediate danger the defendant poses to the public and how much of a flight risk that individual is seen to be.

Dimmer noted that he sees two categories of people being more negatively affected by the current system: those who cannot afford to pay the bail and those who are wrongfully convicted, because they could find themselves jailed for a crime they are not guilty of.

Additionally, there is an alternative method called a signature bond that allows a defendant to live at home during their trial without paying money, as long as they abide by a set of rules.

"I have watched plenty of people in court who've been in jail take a deal because they've decided 'what's one more conviction on my record? I just want to get out. I've got to get back to my job,'" Dimmer said. "It does happen and what it really does is creates more [false] convictions." He added that he does not believe eliminating cash bail will automatically lead to a world of more crime.