As a conservative and an attorney, I believe in public safety, personal responsibility, and the rule of law. I also believe in something that seems increasingly easy to forget: the Constitution exists to protect us from our own government.
The amendment would expand the circumstances in which the government can deny bail to someone accused of a crime, even before that person has been convicted by a jury of their peers. That should give every freedom-loving Hoosier pause.
The presumption of innocence is not a technicality. It is a cornerstone of our justice system. The power to take away someone’s liberty before conviction is among the most serious powers government possesses. We should be extremely reluctant to expand it.
Does public safety matter? Absolutely. Dangerous offenders should be held accountable and judges must have the tools to impose appropriate bail and release conditions. But Indiana already has a legal framework for making these decisions.
If a judge or prosecutor fails to do their job in a case involving a violent offender, fix the problem. Hold officials accountable. Improve the application of existing law. We should not rewrite our Constitution simply because some officials believe the current system does not give them enough discretion.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that this proposal sounds reasonable on its face. The question is not whether we want dangerous people on the streets. Of course we don’t. The question is whether we should permanently expand the government’s constitutional authority to jail people who have not been convicted of a crime. A constitutional amendment is not an ordinary policy adjustment. It permanently changes the rules that constrain government power. Once that power is granted, we cannot assume it will always be exercised wisely or fairly.
Conservatism should mean more than being tough on crime. It should mean limited government, individual liberty, due process, and skepticism of government overreach.
You don’t have to support criminals to defend constitutional rights. You simply have to recognize that those rights matter most when the government wants the power to take them away.
For these reasons, I urge my fellow Hoosiers to vote NO on the constitutional bail amendment.
Scott Bieniek, Greencastle