theturtle06
Sharpshooter
Bail enforcement does not need a warrant. Private contract, no state action.
There are some very interesting law review articles on this:
47 Drake L. Rev. 877 (1998-1999)
Drimmer, Jonathan. 1996. "When Man Hunts Man: The Rights and Duties of Bounty Hunters in the American Criminal Justice System." Houston Law Review 33
Patrick, Andrew DeForest. 1999. "Running from the Law: Should Bounty Hunters Be Considered State Actors and Thus Subject to Constitutional Restraints?" Vanderbilt Law Review 52
Further, why do the subject on Cops always open the door? If you want to talk to cops, do it through a closed door.
Aside, I saw the mandatory item for fringies--a school bus. I assume that was for burial later.
He may not need a warrant by law but I simply don't understand how this is NOT trespassing. If he is a bail enforcement officer, then isn't he just a normal citizen with a job title? You say he is not an agent of the state/union. Ok, so that's established. That makes him just a private contractor? Is he afforded the ability to freely enter and search any home where he suspects a bail-runner to be? I ask because I am unclear, and you seem to have an understanding of the topic at hand. She did not formally grant them permission to enter her house, and in fact she did the opposite (denied entrance to her house) repeatedly.
Fugitive recovery agents operate under a whole different set of rules. They don't use the same rules as the police. Because they aren't the police. When a person bonds out, he relinquinshes certain rights to the bondsman and his designated agents, along with the person who bonded them out. Don't like it? Don't hire a bondsman. But that's not to say there aren't idiots in that profession, because there are, just like any other profession.
So these agreements in place between a bailee and the bail bondsman supersede the law of the land?
ETA - adding this for clarity. I understand that if you sign a contract that waives your rights, you are SOL. If the contract, signed by both parties, allowed the bounty hunter to search the household of the direct family of the bailee, then the contract would win out. That I understand. But would this contract extend to allow the bounty hunter to enter and search any household where he has a reasonable suspicion that the bailee is there? [hypothetical]Lets say this lady was not the one securing the bond, but was related to the bailee and lived a couple hours away. She is estranged from the bailee.[/hypothetical] Would the contract allow the bounty hunter to legally enter? I don't understand how that can be legal...I am assuming it is not but I am not completely clear.
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