While defendants are legally presumed innocent before trial, judges can hold a defendant in jail ahead of their court date on bail. According to the American Bar Association:

Bail is the amount of money defendants must post to be released from custody until their trial. Bail is not a fine. It is not supposed to be used as punishment. The purpose of bail is simply to ensure that defendants will appear for trial and all pretrial hearings for which they must be present. Bail is returned to defendants when their trial is over, in some states minus a processing fee.

Judges have an enormous amount of discretion in setting bail as a collateral for the defendant’s appearance in court. Bail functions as a kind of ransom, and only those with financial means can pay for their freedom. Many cannot afford to pay their bail and can spend weeks, months, or even longer in jail before they are tried in court. Despite the fact that these defendants are presumed innocent, they are treated punitively.

Bail is not meant to be issued as a public safety measure. However, in practice, judges routinely set high bail amounts for defendants under the guise of public safety, knowing that these high bail amounts are often impossible for defendants to pay. If a defendant is released and commits a new crime, this is misguidedly understood to be a fault of the judge. Judges regularly detain people to protect their reputation, which is a flagrant misuse of an already inequitable system.