The general rule is to set the case for hearing--a "preliminary hearing" in a day or two, or a week possibly. You must therefore wait until this time comes. What are you going to do? Must you go to jail until they get ready to have the hearing? No, you are entitled to bail; that is, you are entitled to be discharged upon a bond fixed by the magistrate, commissioner, or judge. There are usually only two offenses which are not, as the saying is, bailable--murder and treason. Usually where murder or treason is charged, the person is not admitted to bail. He is locked up in a cell to await trial; but as a general rule, when a person is arrested his bail is fixed--that is, the amount of the bond which he must file in order to be discharged pending the trial. For instance, if it were a charge of stealing a bicycle, the court might fix the bail at $500 or $1000. That would mean that if he would file a bond, with sureties, conditioned that in case he did not appear for hearing--that he should run away, for instance--the sureties would pay into the court the amount of the bond. Mostly any person of fair standing in a community can secure some friends who will sign such a bond, so that he may have his liberty until the trial.
But the framers of the Constitution, again anxious about the liberties of the people, provided:
"_Excessive bail shall not be required._"(74)
There were many instances in the olden days where bail was purposely fixed so high--so far beyond all reason in view of the nature of the offense that the party could not furnish the bail, the purpose being to compel the party to remain in prison. Our Constitution guarantees to every individual that the amount of bail fixed shall be reasonable in view of the nature of the offense and if it is not reasonable, the person arrested may have the matter brought before the court, who will make full inquiry, and reduce the amount of the bail if found to be too large.
All through these guaranties of the Constitution, all through these provisions guarding the sacred rights of every person, you will see that the effort is that justice shall be done, not injustice; that right shall prevail, not wrong. That no one shall be kept in prison, deprived of his liberty, unless absolutely necessary in the interest of justice.