3 Reasons To Bail A Loved One With An Addiction Or Alcohol Problem Out Of Jail
Posted on: 3 May 2019
Not everyone's natural instincts when a friend or family member is arrested is to rush out and find a bail bondsman. Instead, you might consider leaving your friend or family member with an addiction or a problem with alcohol sitting in jail in order to teach them a lesson or straighten them out.
That's actually a very bad idea. Here are the reasons you really should bail someone you love out of jail when they've been arrested:
1. Your loved one can't get proper treatment in jail for certain problems.
If drug addiction or alcoholism is behind their arrest — as it often is — your loved one can't get proper treatment in jail. Most jails are set up with only rudimentary medical services. While they may be left to "dry out," they certainly won't get the type of treatment they really need to beat their addiction. Frequently, mental health problems underly a drug or alcohol addiction, and jails are notoriously ill-equipped to deal with mental illness.
It's far better to bail your loved one out and get them into an appropriate treatment program instead.
2. Your loved one will be able to keep their life intact.
There's every possibility that your loved one won't have to actually serve any time in jail. About 20% of those held in jail have their cases dismissed or are acquitted — but not before their private lives are in a shambles thanks to their incarceration.
If your loved one's defense attorney is successful, they may beat the charges against them or receive a sentence that doesn't involve incarceration. However, if they have to sit in jail for weeks or months waiting on a trial or a plea bargain to be worked out, your loved one will likely lose their job, apartment, home, or perhaps even their marriage. It could take years for them to rebuild — if ever — even if they're innocent.
3. Your loved one can better prepare their legal defense.
While your loved one's attorney can visit them behind bars, it isn't easy to work on a defense strategy in that situation. For one thing, the longer your loved one sits behind bars, the less reason the prosecution has to offer them a favorable deal. In addition, your loved one won't have the opportunity to show the judge — if the case does go to trial — that they have participated in addiction counseling or other treatment in an effort to reform.
For more information on how bail bondsman services work, talk to a bail agent near you.
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