Bail laws must be fair yet also protect citizens from the danger of potentially violent offenders on the streets. There’s a huge difference between an offender charged with minor and serious but nonviolent crimes and an individual accused of violent crimes.

If an accused has violent offenses on their record they must be kept off the streets pending trial.

All too often, we read of offenders with serious criminal records, charged once again with violent crime, let out on bail. Then, the obvious happens, they commit another crime.

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That’s why Attorney General Dave Yost, State Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R., Huron), State Rep. D.J. Swearingen (R., Huron), and others are on target proposing changes in the law to protect the public in bail determinations.

The Ohio Supreme Court went overboard in the case of DuBose vs. McGuffey. That case made it difficult to keep those charged with violent offenses in jail.

The decision made it difficult, if not impossible, for judges to consider community safety in setting bail.

That is foolish and dangerous.

Mr. Yost had it right when he said “Catch and release is a great policy for fish; not so much for felons.” It likely will take a constitutional amendment to fix the decision, which is what legislators are proposing.

So be it.

The amendment and bill proposed by legislators and supported by Mr. Yost would allow judges to consider a defendant’s criminal record, likelihood to commit another offense, and other matters in deciding the proper bail to set. It would not automatically deny bail, which would be unconstitutional. It would allow judges to consider facets of community safety in setting bail.

Nonviolent offenders for the most part shouldn’t be incarcerated pending trial. Yet it is foolhardy to allow violent criminals on the streets to commit more crimes while awaiting trial.

Protecting our communities must play an important role in deciding the proper bail amounts for offenders accused of violent crimes, most certainly when it’s not their first go around with the law.

First Published April 5, 2022, 4:00 a.m.