Are members of the 14th Judicial District bench lightweights when it comes to assessing bonds for people arrested for domestic
violence?
That’s the inference to be taken from a survey by the American Press of bonds issued by the state judges in recent domestic violence cases.
Our digging found the seven judges’
bail bonds set in 264 domestic abuse cases from September 2011 through
February 2012 averaged
$3,109.
That’s ridiculously low, considering that the accused can secure their release from jail by paying 12 percent of the bond.
In other words, the average fee for being released from jail in these cases was under $375.
Talk about criminal.
Of the seven judges, Judge Robert Wyatt averaged the lowest bond setting, at $500. However, he handled only two domestic abuse
cases during the six-month survey period.
Judge Wilford Carter, who handled the most cases, at 78, averaged $1,450 per bond. Judge David Ritchie had the highest average
per bond at $6,705.
Carter has been involved in two high-profile cases.
In October, William Paul Morgan allegedly ignored a court-imposed restraining order, went to his estranged wife’s place of
employment and kidnapped her. Eight hours later, Morgan released his wife and turned himself in.
Carter set Morgan’s bond at $65,000. After protests from the District Attorney’s Office, he raised the bond to $100,000 the
next day.
When the case was moved to Judge Michael Canaday’s court, Canaday raised the bond to a more appropriate $850,000.
Earlier this year, Brian Woods Jr. was arrested after he allegedly choked and ran over his ex-girlfriend at Sowela Technical
and Community College. Judge Clayton Davis set his bond at $400,000.
Two weeks earlier, Woods allegedly attacked and choked the same woman. His bond for that incident? Carter set it at $3,000.
Which brings us back to the original premise of judges not taking domestic violence perpetrators seriously.
Kathy Williams, who deals with domestic violence victims on a daily basis in her job as executive director of Oasis, the women’s
shelter, said persons arrested for domestic violence should have to sit in jail at least 48 hours as a cooling off period.
Domestic violence is a growing menace. It’s insidious because it is often acted out in front of children who know no better
and who may come to believe that such verbal and physical abuse between couples is normal human behavior.
The victims of such abuse should have
confidence that the judicial system will serve as a protector and that
there are some
standards and guarantees so that the battered shouldn’t be in fear
hours after an abusive incident because their assailants
have paid paltry bonds and are back on the prowl, stalking them in
hopes of inflicting more damage.
Higher bonds won’t necessarily make that ironclad, but they can prevent in-and-out jail time for those accused of inflicting
domestic abuse.
This editorial was written by a member of the American Press Editorial Board. Its content reflects the collaborative opinion of the Board, whose members include Bobby Dower, Ken Stickney,
Jim Beam, Dennis Spears, Crystal Stevenson and Donna Price.