Oddbean new post about login | logout If you show up at court when ordered, then you get the money back no matter the decision. If you miss the court hearing, you lose the money. If you use bonds service then you lose your down payment every time (e.g. 10% of total bond). At least that's my understanding...
Ok very interesting, I always thought that the money was lost somehow, so I was like: only rich can afford that. Thus if you pay 10% of 1M$ to borrow the bond, it's quite a lot of money. I bet the guy is reorganizing his wallets like hell these next days.
I'm pretty sure it's a broken system. The bonds are always set unrealistically high because judges know bond companies exist, and imo they increase the chance of the defendant running away because an additional liability in the form of debt makes disappearing more attractive. So, imo, it's just another example of American corruption.