Tread Carefully in Bail Reform Waters
by Nicholas Wachinski
Recently, there has been much discussion in Maryland and nationally about reforming the bail system, but some policymakers and judges appear to be headed down a dangerous path that ultimately puts public safety at risk. These discussions are based on an abandonment of the concept of bail when releasing a defendant pending trial, adopting the use of either release with no financial accountability or the dependency on a larger governmental agency to “supervise” an accused person awaiting trial.
Despite these discussions, the events surrounding Montgomery County Judge Gary Bair’s recent release on a $500,000 unsecured bond of Dion Sobotker, who is charged with first-degree murder, should require lawmakers to pause before engaging in these discussions or impulsively pursuing “reform” of any single part of the state’s criminal justice system, but more specifically the bail system.
Mr. Sobotker appeared before Judge Bair for consideration of his release on bail. Despite being responsible for background checks, the county agency failed to discover or inform Judge Bair that Mr. Sobotker had a significant criminal history and a history of failing to appear for his hearings. Moreover, the county agency recommended, and Judge Bair adopted, releasing Mr. Sobotker on home monitoring. The release was done without the county agency verifying that Mr. Sobotker had a home address or a home. In addition, he was released with merely a reminder that he had an appointment to register for home detention, rather than any other restrictive method to ensure public safety.
Mr. Sobotker was not held accountable. Nor were any of his family, friends, or any other third party held accountable for his appearance at his trial or for safeguarding public safety. Within hours of his release, he fled Maryland to Washington D.C., requiring extraordinary efforts of local, state and federal law enforcement to recapture him.
It is apparent Judge Bair, who subsequently revoked Mr. Sobotker’s bond, did not have all of the appropriate information before making his decision. By his own statement, he was unaware that Mr. Sobotker had failed to appear a total of seven times at various other courts and would not have granted release had he known, according to WTOP. The county agency failed in their task to research and provide all of the relevant information to Judge Bair. More importantly, the county agency made a grievous recommendation that Judge Bair acted upon.
The judge, regrettably, inflamed the situation by saying that he does not believe bail is “fair when you set a bond in an amount that no one can make.” These comments have become the focus of the media coverage and reflect a national effort to “reform” bail so more criminal defendants can be freed awaiting trial. It is unfathomable to the bail agents working in Maryland and across the country that the agency employees tasked with completing the investigation in to Mr. Sobotker’s past and making a bail recommendation to Judge Bair actually recommended that a man accused of murder be released. While our Constitution guarantees that a person released on bail not be subjected to an excessive or oppressive bail, the Constitution and the law recognizes the right of the public to be free from the threats an accused presents when released.
Thankfully, Mr. Sobotker merely fled from justice rather than committing a violent act. But imagine the horrors that the family and loved ones of his victims would have suffered by being denied their opportunity for justice due to his flight.
The Sobotker case makes it clear that policymakers need to resist any impulsiveness based on recent sensationalization created by catch phrases relating to criminal justice reform, specifically bail reform. Policymakers should be evaluating all avenues of information relating to any change to the criminal justice system to ensure that the words resonated in our Pledge of Allegiance, “justice for all,” are truly met.
Unlike any other state, Maryland has taken steps to ensure fairness in the decisions relating to bail, ensuring each accused is afforded two opportunities to have their circumstances reviewed by a judge or court official within 48 hours of arrest. However, even with these protections there are a great number of circumstances, such as the Sobotker case, where bail should be required to manage the risk the accused presents.
Citizens deserve to know that defendants are being thoroughly investigated to determine whether bail is even an option. Citizens deserve to know that defendants awaiting trial are being properly held accountable to stand for their trials.
State and local officials need to tread carefully into these reform waters before they threaten the safety of our communities and confidence in the rule of law that is the foundation of our free society.
Nicholas Wachinski is the former executive director of the American Bail Coalition and CEO of Lexington National Insurance Corporation, headquartered in Baltimore. His email is nwachinski@lexingtonnational.
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