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Pretrial Release: Community Ties in the 21st Century
By Douglas Trant
Ever since defendants have historically been entitled to bail, courts
have considered community ties as a factor in determining whether to
release the defendant and on what conditions. Community ties continue to
be an important consideration in the state and federal courts of this
nation.1 It is how community ties are defined which is undergoing an
evolution in the courts of the United States.
In these days where we are becoming a global community, mobility within
the United States is frequent and vast. It is now easy to find
individuals by use of the Internet and easy to transfer individuals from
one state to another or from federal district to another for trial. All
the prosecutor needs to prove is that there is a valid charge against
the defendant in the seeking jurisdiction.2
While historically, courts considered ties to the community in which the
defendant was charged as important to ensure his presence at trial,
that historical basis is now subject t
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