Bail reform has become a major criminal justice policy in the United States due to its discrimination against individuals who are below the poverty level. The reduction of federal sentencing for prison growth is slowing and there are some prisons in states that are closing due to the changes Congress is making (Eagly, 2017). The incarceration rates in the United States continue to increase due to pretrial confinement, which account for more than 60 percent of jail population. The focus of releasing individuals or detaining them has become a major focus of policy makers in today's society. Although the bail system is broken, the risk assessment associated with flight risk and danger must be accounted for, by increasing different risk-assessment tools that will improve the decisions made in a judicial manner and reinforce …show more content…
Constitution)." In Stack v. Boyle, the Supreme Court first announced that "[b]ail set at a figure higher than an amount reasonably calculated [ensure the accused's presence in court] is 'excessive' under the Eighth Amendment (Woodruff, 2013)." Since this announcement, the much-continued debate surrounding the Excessive Bail Clause has been largely focused on whether the Clause binds only the courts or Congress as well, and whether it creates any substantive right to bail (Woodruff, 2013)." According to United States v. Salerno, the only Supreme Court case that specifically addresses pretrial preventive restraint (Mayson, 2018), it was subsequently held by the Supreme Court the Bail Clause is the Government's only arguable substantive limitation that the proposed conditions of release or detention should not be 'excessive' in light of the perceived evil. Therefore, the clause would only bind the courts and leave Congress free to determine what offenses are bailable. Since the Salerno case, there has been little written in reference to the clause, therefore making it seem as if it has been abandoned as a meaningful source of law