User:Basmati235979/sandbox

"Bail in the United States" Importance Ratings Update

I changed the importance ranking of the article "Bail in the United States" from low-importance to high-importance and mid-importance in Wikiproject Law and Wikiproject Crime.

Major Proposal to Modify "Bail in the United States"

Reasons for Changes

The page, “Bail in the United States”, needs revision because it is ineffectively organized and lacks key information. For example, the “History” section is not comprehensive about the origins of the unique bail system in the U.S. and includes a fallacy about the 8th amendment. On that note, I would add more scholarly sources in general because some sections, such as the “Criticism” section, rely heavily on one source. Also, the article could use some restructuring as there are oddly placed subsections and some sections, like the “State laws” section clearly need expansion to include more states with unique bail laws and systems. Lastly, immigrants and minorities are only mentioned briefly; I think it worth researching and updating sections to better discuss bail disparity among racial groups.

Proposed Restructuring and Plans

1. Historical Context
   • I would like to update 8th amendment information to account for Timbs v. Indiana decision & expand historical context
2. Federal Law
   1. Judiciary Act of 1789
      • I want to include information about this act and the importance of discretion in bail setting procedure
   2. Bail Reform Act of 1966
      • I want to go more in-depth to what caused this reform to come about/history of its effects
   3. Bail Reform Act of 1984
      • I want include statistics about this amendment's efficacy/impacts and add more information to United States v. Salerno
   4. The Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act
      • This deserves its own section due to its significance and equal weight as an amendment to previous bail reform measures
3. State Laws
   • I want to add more recent bail reform developments in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Ohio. I also want to expand upon and move the information about D.C. 's early bail efforts to this section instead of the "Federal laws" section. I propose to delete the existing Tennessee section too.
     1. California
     2. Illinois
     3. New York
     4. Texas
     5. Ohio
     6. New Jersey
4. Types
5. Criticism
   • Overall I want to add more scholarly sources (especially real-life findings of bail system's impacts) and add more information to support arguments of racial disparities.
     1. Wealth Bias
     2. Unecessary Incarceration
     3. Socioeconomic effects
     4. Attorney access
     5. Juror Bias
     6. Inconsistency
     7. Effect on trials
     8. Bias
6. Reform
   • I want to include more recent findings about the bail system (current sources in this section are outdated) and inform readers of the Pretrial Services Act. I also find it key to highlight the role of stakeholders, like bail bond services, in perpetuating the cash bail system and preventing systemic legal reform.
     1. Bail bond programs
     2. Other proposals
     3. Opposition
7. See also
8. References