Phila. D.A. says bail system is "broken"

Also in response to the newspaper's work, U.S. Rep Joe Sestak (D., Pa.), running against Specter in the Democratic primary, called for a nationwide study on how to reform bail. He said that under his proposal, Philadelphia could be selected as a place to test the best new approaches.

Specter said he would urge his colleagues in the Senate to revive a proposal to channel federal money to cities to help stem the tide of fugitives.

"We would welcome that," said David V. Preski, the Philadelphia court official who oversees a 52-officer squad charged with apprehending fugitives. In just the past year, he said, the squad lost 21 officers to budget cuts.

Specter said he was stunned that Philadelphia court officials had not taken the simple step of registering fugitives with the National Criminal Information Center, a repository of 1.7 million fugitive warrants from across the country that is accessible to law enforcement nationwide.

Roy G. Weise, a senior adviser with the FBI who developed the software for that system, testified that it helps offiers capture a fugitive every 90 seconds.

Specter chided Philadelphia court officials, saying, "It's a pretty big omission not to register the fugitives with the national system."

"Correct," said Preski, who added that court officials would begin doing so in May.

As for why they had not done so sooner, he said: "I believe it was a logistical problem with computer people."

At Sestak's news conference, the congressman was joined by John Goldkamp, a professor at Temple University who is a leading expert on the Philadelphia courts.

Goldkamp said bail decisions should be based strictly on a defendant's risk of flight and potential threat to the public.

Turning the matter over to private firms, he said, has drawbacks: It jails the poor solely because they are poor and cannot make bail, or it gives richer defendants a shortcut out of prison.

"For those with ready cash, such as drug dealers, it offers a guarantee of purchasing freedom," Goldkamp said.

In his call for a study, Sestak initially ruled out research on the effectiveness of using private firms. Asked whether this meant he had prejudged the issue, he said, "That's not a bad point," and said he would put no restrictions on any study.

Specter said private bail might be part of the answer.

"When I was district attorney, there was corruption in the bail system and the bail system went by the boards," he said, "but it may be time to take another look at it."

Read The Inquirer's look at Philadelphia's justice system in a multimedia presentation at

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Read The Inquirer's look at Philadelphia's justice system in a multimedia presentation at

Contact staff writer Nancy Phillips at 215-854-4821 or nphillips@phillynews.com.