History Main / BailEqualsFreedom

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': At the end of their first appearance, Butch and Cassidy are in jail for their crimes. At their next appearance, they're free and tell Jessie and James it's because their boss bailed them out.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]

* Averted in ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert''. [[spoiler:Saul bails the protagonist out of jail, but he still has to stand trial for breaking and entering.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansIIPatchsLondonAdventure'' has an even more egregious example than most versions. Here, Cruella pays Horace and Jasper's bail to have them released ''after they have already been sentenced''. This would imply that bail is some sort of fine you can pay to be released early from prison, which is obviously not true.

* Subverted in ''On Wings of Eagles'' by Ken Follett as the bail for the two EDS businessmen arrested on trumped-up charges is ''twelve million dollars'' and is regarded by EDS as a legal ransom demand. Even if EDS can raise the money, and then find a means of paying it when the Iranian government is on the verge of collapse, there's the problem of getting the two men out of the country.

* In ''Film/WildRose'', Mr. Po bails out his son and his son's buddy after they are accused (incorrectly) of stealing a wallet. Nothing more is heard of their legal problem again.

* In the state of Georgia, at least, this is TruthInTelevision for minor traffic violations. In most states, if you pay a fine before your court date, you sign a form confessing to the crime. In Georgia, however, the money you pay is simply your "bail." If you don't show up to the court date, it's considered a no contest, and the judge will routinely sentence you to "forfeit bail."

* Justified in ''Wyatt Earp'' (1994). Having fallen on hard times, a young Wyatt gets caught stealing a horse. His father posts bail, but tells Wyatt he's not showing up for the trial because the penalty for horse theft is death by hanging. Instead he's told to flee the state and never come back. The only reason Wyatt was even granted bail was that his father is a highly respected local judge who [[BlatantLies promised to make personally sure that Wyatt shows up for trial]].

* Parodied in ''Literature/TheTruth'': When Mr Slant the vampire lawyer keeps knocking back Commander Vimes's attempts to set a large bail for William de Worde, Vimes sarcastically ''give'' William a dollar, and tells him that if he skips town he'll have to return it.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bail.jpg]]

* BailEqualsFreedom: Averted in ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert''. [[spoiler:Saul bails the protagonist out of jail, but he still has to stand trial for breaking and entering.]]

The quickest and best way to get out of any sticky legal trouble is to post bail. Once bail is decided and paid, then you don't need have any more worries about the police, the judge, the jury, or anything else. In extreme cases, you go right out and do the same thing again, only to get caught and post another bail, walking away.

* Zig-zagged all over the place in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan.'' Peter Parker assumes this trope is true when he hears Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) has been released on bail, and is furious because the evidence Spider-Man helped the police get is impossibly damning. But even though Fisk can return to his cushy penthouses and wealthy "legitimate" businesses, he still has to try and beat the charges leveled against him. Being a crime lord, he plans to get the charges dropped by bribing officials, but even ''that'' process takes months of work. In the meantime, he can't risk involving himself in any potential crimes with the spotlight already on him. So instead Kingpin feeds information on the criminal underworld to Spider-Man to help arrest up-and-coming crime lords (ensuring here's no threats to him when he's able to commit crimes freely again). When the charges are dropped, he proceeds to reign hell on the lives of Spider-Man, Daredevil Iron Fist, and Moon Knight... but is finally arrested ''again'' for attempted murder, this time while he's in the process of boarding a private plane out of the country and bail is not extended. Then in a later comic he somehow, inexplicably posts bail ''again''.... Only to be murdered by another super-villain.

* Justified in ''Wyatt Earp'' (1994). Having fallen on hard times, a young Wyatt gets caught stealing a horse. His father posts bail, but tells Wyatt he's not showing up for the trial because the penalty for horse theft is death by hanging. Instead he's told to flee the state and never come back. The only reason Wyatt was even granted bail was because his father is a highly respected local judge who [[BlatantLies promised to make personally sure that Wyatt shows up for trial]].

-->''"Whatever. The Escobaran Cortes does not, as you seem to think, engage itself in the slave trade. However it's done on this benighted planet, on Escobar a bond is a guarantee of court appearance, not some kind of human meat market transaction."\\

* Used frequently in the original ''Series/KnightRider'' series: whenever Michael gets in trouble with the law, the Foundation will bail him out. At one point, a law enforcement officer who's trying to make trouble for Michael even explicitly invokes the idea that one day he'll get something to stick on him and no-one will be able to bail him out (after already arresting him, Michael is currently out on bail for that charge).

** Earl feels compelled to help his ex-wife Joy make bail when she's charged with kidnapping and grand theft auto. The judge sets her bail at $1,000,000, which is more money than Earl has even with his lottery winnings, because this is her [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_strikes_law third strike]]. To get the money, Earl asks the richest (and craziest) man in Camden, Richard Chubby (Creator/BurtReynolds), the owner of the local strip club, and almost every other business in Camden. He agrees to give Earl the money, in exchange for bringing back his number one dancer, Catalina. [[spoiler:Catalina agrees, until she finds out it's to help her worst enemy, so Joy steps up to dance...but disaster ensues after drinking to ease her stage fright, so Catalina gets on stage in order to help Earl out of the stress.]] However, the trope is subverted: Joy is expected to appear in court several episodes later, and spends the interim preparing for her trial.

* Averted in ''Series/{{House}}''. A Season 5 episode reveals that House and Wilson met at a medical conference in New Orleans, where Wilson (very depressed and drunk from finding out his then-wife had filed for divorce) started a fight at a bar and caused property damage, and House bailed him out. It wasn't until years later, when House got Wilson arrested for speeding (long story), that Wilson learned that the state of Louisiana still had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. House points out that all he did was pay Wilson's bail; he still needed to show up at the arraignment and sort things out. However, given that the charges were minor and Wilson had paid back the cost of the damage, they ultimately decide it's not worth it to pursue the case and the warrant is effectively vacated anyway.

* Done realistically in the fourth season of ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': Paying bail lets Lalo escape arrest for ''literal murder'' because he's a foreigner on trial under the assumed named "Jorge de Guzman". He can jump bail and move back to Mexico with zero fear of consequences. He only made bail because the sole witness was tampered with, Saul make it look like Lalo/Jorge had family in Albuquerque, and the judge wasn't expecting Lalo to have seven '''million''' dollars to throw away.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': In "Bubbeo and Juliet", Scrooge is jailed a few times for disturbing the police in his escalating feud with the Blurffs. Scrooge complains about the increasing cost of being bailed out of jail. In effect Scrooge is simply being fined; once Scrooge pays the charges appear to be dropped.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Bender's arrest for mass shoplifting in "A Fishful of Dollars" is forgotten about after he's bailed out. In fact, it's actually referred to ''as'' a fine, not bail, which raises many other questions about 31st century laws.

* Similarly, "short arrest" is common for those who are of some financial means and stability and who have generally committed misdemeanors (e.g. first time DUI, simple assault, small amount drug possession). You ''will'' be arrested and booked, but you likely will not be actually placed in "general population"/a jail cell if your lawyer is present and pays the full bail amount. Of course, you ''will'' have to show up to court and, again, you may end up in jail ''if'' found guilty and fine or diversion is not an option, but it will keep you free in the meantime (and, if you can show proof of innocence or of getting help if you do choose to plead guilty, time to build your defense/argue for a plea deal or lesser punishment).

This is when fiction treats bail as a fine, not as a guarantee of a later appearance before the police or the legal system. In real life, most courts take a very dim view of people abusing bail, or failing to appear later -- usually it leads to them being detained until trial is concluded, and bail-jumping is itself a crime. That is, if the country even has bail (hint: most don't). Furthermore, those judged to be flight risks or dangers to the public ''will'' be denied bail. The decision to grant bail or not in general depends on a wide variety of factors that are weighed together; someone with a long history of serious offenses who is facing charges that could put them away for a long time, who has a mountain of evidence against them, has a proven history of threatening or harassing witnesses, and either has the money to post bail or has associates who do will, as a rule, never be granted bail, not even an exorbitant amount due to the chance that they actually could come up with the money. Most releases also have additional conditions; no-contact orders are common, primarily in domestic violence or assault and battery cases, and substance restrictions, curfews, and travel restrictions or location bans are also frequent.

* ''DuckTales1987'': In "Bubbeo and Juliet", Scrooge is jailed a few times for disturbing the police in his escalating feud with the Blurffs. Scrooge complains about the increasing cost of being bailed out of jail. In effect Scrooge is simply being fined; once Scrooge pays the charges appear to be dropped.

!Examples

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Zig-zagged all over the place in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan.'' Peter Parker assumes this trope is true when he hears Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) has been released on bail, and is furious because the evidence Spider-Man helped the police get is impossibly damning. But even though Fisk can return to his cushy penthouses and wealthy "legitimate" businesses, he still has to try and beat the charges leveled against him. Being a crime lord, he plans to get the charges dropped by bribing officials, but even ''that'' process takes months of work. In the meantime, he can't risk involving himself in any potential crimes with the spotlight already on him. So instead Kingpin feeds information on the criminal underworld to Spider-Man to help arrest up-and-coming crime lords (ensuring here's no threats to him when he's able to commit crimes freely again). When the charges are dropped, he proceeds to reign hell on the lives of Spider-Man, Daredevil Iron Fist, and Moon Knight.... but is finally arrested ''again'' for attempted murder, this time while he's in the process of boarding a private plane out of the country and bail is not extended. Then in a later comic he somehow, inexplicably posts bail ''again''.... Only to be murdered by another super-villain.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Used frequently in the original ''Series/KnightRider'' series: whenever Michael gets in trouble with the law, the Foundation will bail him out. At one point, a law enforcement officer who's trying to make trouble for Michael even explicitly invokes the idea that one day he'll get something to stick on him and no one will be able to bail him out (after already arresting him, Michael is currently out on bail for that charge).

* ''Series/CobraKai'': In the pilot, Johnny Lawrence is arrested and bailed out by his stepfather in the process of saving Miguel from a gang of bullies. The arrest is never brought up again (though Johnny would have a reasonable case for dismissal given the circumstances, especially with Miguel as a witness to what happened), though the fight is.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

This is when fiction treats bail as a fine, not as a guarantee of a later appearance before the police or the legal system. In real life, most courts take a very dim view of people abusing bail, or failing to appear later -- usually it leads to them being detained until trial is concluded, and bail-jumping is itself a crime. That is, if the country even has bail (hint: most don't). Furthermore, those judged to be flight risks or dangers to the public ''will'' be denied bail. Most releases also have additional conditions; no-contact orders are common, primarily in domestic violence or assault and battery cases, and substance restrictions, curfews, and travel restrictions or location bans are also frequent.

* Done realistically in the fourth season of ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': Paying bail lets Lalo escape arrest for ''literal murder'' because he's a foreigner on trial under the assumed named "Jorge de Guzman". He can jump bail and return to Mexico with zero fear consequences. He only made bail because the sole witness was tampered with, Saul make it look like Lalo/Jorge had family in Albuquerque, and the judge wasn't expecting Lalo to have seven '''million''' dollars to throw away.

This is when fiction treats bail as a fine, not as a guarantee of a later appearance before the police or the legal system. In real life, most courts take a very dim view of people abusing bail, or failing to appear later -- usually it leads to them being detained until trial is concluded, and bail-jumping is itself a crime. That is, if the country even has bail (hint: most don't). Furthermore, those judged to be flight risks or dangers to the public ''will'' be denied bail. Furthermore, most releases have additional conditions; no-contact orders are common, primarily in domestic violence or assault and battery cases, and substance restrictions, curfews, and travel restrictions or location bans are also frequent.

This is when fiction treats bail as a fine, not as a guarantee of a later appearance before the police or the legal system. In real life, most courts take a very dim view of people abusing bail, or failing to appear later -- usually it leads to them being detained until trial is concluded, and bail-jumping is itself a crime. That is, if the country even has bail (hint: most don't). Furthermore, those judged to be flight risks or dangers to the public ''will'' be denied bail.

* Bail in some states is also known to be set extremely, unrealistically high for people that they have to make overtures of giving a fair choice to due to local laws, like mass-shooters, rapists, and serial killers who if they actually made bond, would likely skip town or commit more crimes because they're going to jail anyway when their crimes are linked. It's not uncommon to hear "in jail on (a 6 or 7 digit) bond" for these types.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Bender's arrest for mass shoplifting in "A Fishful of Dollars" is forgotten about after he's bailed out. In fact, it's actually referred to as a ''fine'', which raises many other questions about 31st century laws.

* Zig-zagged all over the place in ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan.'' Peter Parker assumes this trope is true when he hears Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) has been released on bail, and is furious because the evidence Spider-Man helped the police get is impossibly damning. But even though Fisk can return to his cushy penthouses and wealthy "legitimate" businesses, he still has to try and beat the charges leveled against him. Being a crime lord, he plans to get the charges dropped by bribing officials, but even ''that'' process takes months of work. In the meantime, he can't risk involving himself in any potential crimes with the spotlight already on him. So instead Kingpin feeds information on the criminal underworld to Spider-Man to help arrest up-and-coming crime lords (ensuring here's no threats to him when he's able to commit crimes freely again). When the charges are dropped, he proceeds to reign hell on the lives of Spider-Man, Daredevil Iron Fist, and Moon Knight.... but is finally arrested ''again'' for attempted murder, this time while he's in the process of boarding a private plane out of the country and bail is not extended. Then in a later comic he somehow, inexplicably posts bail ''again''.... Only to be murdered by another super-villain.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Bender's arrest for mass shoplifting is forgotten about after he's bailed out.