Hello hello hello hello welcome to your morning news show I am Philip

de franco and today we're going to be talking about one of the most controversial

aspects of the criminal justice system bail if you're not in trouble with the law

it's probably something you only think about during celebrity crime stories the The Beebes is out on bail. The total

bond would be $2,500. The latest now in Jesse Smollett, he's free on $100,000 bail after

being charged for staging his own attack.

R&B singer R Kelly has just been granted bail with conditions.

Actress Lori Laughlin arriving home tonight after posting a million dollars bond

accused in a bribery

scandal to get her daughters into USC and actually thanks to these cases

most of us have a pretty good understanding of how the money bail system works.

You get charged with a crime the judge sets a cash bail amount depending on the severity of the crime, and you don't get that money back unless you return for all of your court dates.

But if you're not a celebrity or at the very least you don't have thousands of dollars lying around, there is a good chance you cannot afford the cost of bail in many states.

And so that leaves you with three options. You can agree to a plea deal.

You can stay in jail while you await your trial.

Or three, you can pay a bail bondsman, a non-refundable percentage of the bail, who is then on the hook for the full bail amount if you

have failed to appear in court.

And while this system may seem commonplace for those of us who live in the United States, the American

bail system is actually unique.

And that's because the United States is one of only two countries in the world that has a for-profit bail system with the other being the Philippines.

And it's a system that has come under fire in recent years by criminal justice reform advocates who argue that money bail unfairly punishes low income and minority

defendants, coerce is guilty pleas, and leads to big cause for taxpayers.

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