P-D:
Missouri Supreme Court sides with increased bail for gun offense in St. Louis
The Missouri Supreme Court is backing St. Louis and a judge who is setting higher bail in illegal gun cases in an effort to make the streets safer.
The supreme court entered an order on Tuesday denying a petition that basically argued that a $75,000 cash-only bail is excessive for keeping felon Deandre Usery, 29, for possessing a loaded handgun in a Washington Avenue nightclub in March.
(snip)
Usery’s attorney, John Rogers, fought the higher bail, saying Usery had appeared in court on time under the lower bail. Assistant circuit attorney Sarah Mease, arguing for the higher bail, said that Usery had not appeared in court on past cases and that he had a criminal history that included drug possession, stealing, and weapons charges.
Beginning in the spring, St. Louis judges have made a point of setting higher bails on gun cases. Before, defendants would be able to post 10 percent of a $30,000 or $50,000. Now, bail is usually set at cash-only, requiring the full amount. Judges say it’s a tool they can use to try and combat increasing gun violence.
Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said she was pleased about the decision.
“This is a very good outcome for the people of this community,” she said in a statement. “I believe high bonds for people who choose to possess illegal guns and use them for criminal activity help keep the people of this city safer.”
“Snip” includes names of sitting judges, ergo no link.
I agree with the decision, and I do think it will make the city measurably safer, but I’ve always wondered what is the point of setting bail at a given dollar amount if most people can chop off one zero. However, Joyce’s comment bugs me a little bit, because it’s a misnomer. These kinds of cases are almost always matters of previously convicted felons caught in possession of any firearm. In those matters, Miss Joyce, it’s not that the gun is illegal, it’s that the person is illegal.
Then again, I’m not surprised at Joyce’s (likely racial) genuflection — In the fall of 2008, she teamed up with Bob McCulloch and Glenn Boyer and insinuated that they were going to throw Obama critics in jail.
