Unaffordable Cash Bail Constitutional, Says Delaware High Court

Delaware’s Constitution permits state courts “to attach unaffordable financial conditions to a dangerous defendant’s” release on bond given certain procedural protections, its highest court ruled.

Though some affluent but dangerous defendants may be able to avoid pretrial detention when facing charges for non-capital crimes while their poorer counterparts can’t, Justice Gary F. Traynor wrote that this “flaw” isn’t “constitutional in magnitude,” and it’s up to the democratic process to decide whether it’s tolerable.

Tyrese Burroughs, already convicted of felony drug dealing, was caught dealing heroin, cocaine, and marijuana while in possession of a loaded firearm. Under Delaware law, the firearm ...