Posted: 9/27/2009 9:12:39 AM EDT
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The other thread got to me thinking about the bail agents and what they think they can do and what the law says.
I've seen bail agents subdue and detain people that were not the fugitives and refuse to release them while questioning them about the whereabouts of the fugitive. They detain and cuff people in their own homes while searching the home for the fugitive. To me this is serious shit and the minute they uncuff me I would detain them until the police arrive. I am getting a little old for scuffling around on the floor with guys in their 20's but someone's getting fucked up along with me if they think they're putting plastic cuffs on me. Police cuff innocent people all the time while executing warrants but they have police powers. Big difference. |
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Bail Agents can pretty much do as they please within reason,,and the Constitution doesnt seem to get in there way
there are limitations state by state but they seem to be few, there is a federal law from the 1800 but rarely do the FED get involved in bail enforcment, IF you are on a warrent from the FED Court, US MARSHALs come and get you . the United States legal system, the 1873 U.S. Supreme Court case Taylor v. Taintor, 16 Wall (83 U.S. 366, 21 L.Ed. 287), is cited as having established that the person into whose custody an accused is remanded as part of the accused's bail has sweeping rights to recover that person (although this may have been accurate at the time the decision was reached, the portion cited was obiter dictum and has no binding precedential value). Most bounty hunters are employed by bail bondsmen: the bounty hunter is paid about 10% of the bail the fugitive initially paid. If the fugitive eludes bail, the bondsman, not the bounty hunter, is responsible for the remainder of the fugitive's bail. This is a way of ensuring his clients arrive at trial. In the United States, bounty hunters claim to catch 31,500 bail jumpers per year, about 90% of people who jump bail.[2] Bounty hunters are also sometimes known as "bail enforcement agents" or "fugitive recovery agents," which are the preferred industry terms. Bounty hunters are sometimes called "skiptracers," but this usage can be misleading. While bounty hunters are often skiptracers as well, skiptracing generally refers to the process of searching for an individual through less direct methods than active pursuit and apprehension, such as private investigators or debt collectors. Skiptracing can also refer to searches related to a civil matter and does not always imply criminal conduct on the part of the individual being traced. In the United States of America, bounty hunters have varying levels of authority in their duties with regard to their targets depending on which states they operate in. As opined in Taylor v. Taintor, and barring restrictions applicable state by state, a bounty hunter can enter the fugitive's private property without a warrant in order to execute a re-arrest. In some states, bounty hunters do not undergo any formal training, and are generally unlicensed, only requiring sanction from a bail bondsman to operate. In other states, however, they are held to varying standards of training and licensure. In California, bounty hunters must undergo a background check and complete various courses that satisfy the penal code 1299 requirements.[3] In most states they are prohibited from carrying firearms without proper permits. Louisiana requires bounty hunters to wear clothing identifying them as such.[4] In Kentucky, bounty hunting is generally not allowed because the state does not have a system of bail bondsmen, and releases bailed suspects through the state's Pretrial Services division of the courts, thus there is no bondsman with the right to apprehend the fugitive. Generally, only fugitives who have fled bail on federal charges from another state where bounty hunting is legal are allowed to be hunted in Kentucky.[4] In Texas, every bounty hunter is required to be a peace officer, Level III (armed) security officer, or a private investigator.[5] State legal requirements are often imposed on out-of-state bounty hunters, meaning a suspect could temporarily escape re-arrest by entering a state in which the bail agent has limited or no jurisdiction . |
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Quoted:
Bail Agents can pretty much do as they please within reason,,and the Constitution doesnt seem to get in there way there are limitations state by state but they seem to be few, there is a federal law from the 1800 but rarely do the FED get involved in bail enforcment, IF you are on a warrent from the FED Court, US MARSHALs come and get you . I'm talking about detaining people who have done nothing wrong except maybe knowing a fugitive. Just because they suspect he might be on your house does not mean they can subdue and restrain you. They need to be reigned in. and in some cases fucking thrown in jail. |
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cops get sued all the time. I assume bail agents are open to the same liability risks only worse due to lack of professional training.
ETA: you can bring suit against anyone for anything. You won't get any false imprisonment charges against them, but you sure as hell can bring assault, battery, property damage, ect. The type of people who they go after don't trust the cops, so they generally don't file police reports when bail agents do stupid stuff. |
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I read enough case law on the other thread to know that their power is NOT unlimited, they do get prosecuted sometimes.
I did not read any laws that say they can detain anyone not on the bondslip, just vauge references to their safety. State law varies GREATLY on what they can and can not do. I also could not find any cases that bondsman was prosicuted for false imprisonment or the like. The taylor law is being struck down or at least limited in some states. But for now in a lot of states they are getting by with doing a lot of things that doesnt seem just. JUst please in this thread dont start making up scenarios that change post by post 
your question is valid, I look forward to reading some case law on it. |