Court Rejects Due Process Claim of Excessive Bail

State v. Thomas, Minn.Ct.App., 6/17/2013.  After police arrested Ms. Thomas on a drug charge, the trial court released her on a conditional release.  When she didn't perform the conditions the trial court modified bail.  Ms. Thomas could either pay $25,000.00 bail for an unconditional release; or she could pay $500.00 and pay for drug testing for a conditional release.  Ms. Thomas appealed the amended release terms, saying that because she could not afford to pay for the drug testing the court had set excessive bail.  She said that her rights under the Fourteenth Amendment -not the Eighth Amendment - to due process and equal protection were violated when the trial court based her release terms on drug testing that she could not afford.

The court of appeals summarily rejects these Fourteenth Amendment challenges, opting to stay, sort of, with an Eighth Amendment excessive bail analysis.  The court observes that what the trial judge did seemed within his discretion in setting terms of release, but that's just chatter.  The court admits that it is only rejecting a Fourteenth Amendment claim - the only claim made to the trial court - and is not ruling on any Eighth Amendment excessive bail claim.  That's because that claim was neither presented to the trial court nor presented to them.