Letter: Why bail break for politicians?

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I appreciate and applaud the exemplary efforts of Sim Gill and his office in pursing the investigation of John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff. In the same breath, I am repulsed regarding Swallow and Shurtleff's apparent "Get out of jail free card."

Both of these men have been charged with multiple felonies, and their bail was set at $250,000. Neither Swallow or Shurtleff were required to post bail. As was reported in the Tribune, "Although bail was set at $250,000 for each, both were released through Pretrial Services, meaning they entered into a supervised release arrangement and did not have to post a bond to get out. This was part of an offer made by Gill's office as a show of good faith to the former attorneys general."

I'm flabbergasted and outraged that these two men received special treatment. Our jails detain men and women with no ability to post bail for crimes such as shoplifting, traffic violations and minor drug offenses, yet wealthy politicians who are charged with multiple felonies are not required to post bail.

Simply disgusting!

Catherine Bonomo

St. George