Justice Minister slams judges on repeat offenders’ bail

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Domínguez on Tuesday blamed the bail issued by judges for the fact that repeat offenders are jailed as many often as 15 times, despite that in most cases they are meant for those charged with misdemeanors.

He warned that a repeat offender doesn’t deserve bail and has to be arrested, for which each person in the judicial system should assume their role. "In most minor cases in Dominican Republic there is a cycle, everything which is street crime, misdemeanors, are by people who are freed on bail and return on misdemeanors."

Dominguez noted however, that he doesn’t believe that judges in general are releasing everyone. “The judges are doing their duty, but there are may be exceptions.”