Student Jailed On Sex Assault Charge Freed After Judge Deems Him 'High Achieving'

[Igel]

19. My county has an issue with bail.

It's disposed of it for a lot of crimes. Provided you're poor and can't make bail.

If you have money, then you pay.

It's a sliding scale of risk x money. If you're low risk and have money, you can not pay. But if you're high risk and don't have money, you're as likely not to pay.

"Risk" is risk of flight. It's the kind of thing that makes some widely cited statistics probably flawed beyond repair: If you have no strong ties to the community, you can flee before you're even identified and caught. If you have weaker ties, you might flee only after being identified and you know they're after you. If you're low risk, you have stuff and folk that tie you down but not so much stuff or folk that you can easily be comfortably relocated by noon tomorrow.

In this thread's comments, "risk" seems to be "at risk of repeating the crime." It's not at all clear that's its meaning in the OP, where it sounds like the meaning that's generally used in legal settings.

This is where "high achieving" comes in. The kid has a strong reason to stay in the area: he's a senior, and not one at risk of failing out but one who could lose honors by being gone for even a few weeks. That means he's highly motivated to stay in the area and show up for his court date--which is the primary reason for bail. (With posing a danger to society being more a reason to deny bail, not hike the value of the bond.)