Constitution of the United States, Amendment VII.
“A jury is a body of men sworn to declare the facts of a case as they are proven from the evidence placed before them.”—Bouvier's Law Dictionary.
The definition of a jury explains why the facts of a case are not open for re-examination after being declared by a jury. It is because a jury meets in a court in the place where the offense has been committed, and is therefore better able to know the whole truth, and to determine what the facts really are than would be possible for any other body of men who did not have such means of knowing. A higher court in reviewing a case on an appeal cannot usually go behind the facts as declared by a jury.
Constitution of the United States, Amendment VIII.
In criminal actions the matter of bail is determined by statute. Bail is often denied to those accused of committing serious crimes.
The term bail is used to designate a person who becomes a surety for the appearance of the defendant in court at the time called for. But in modern usage the term bail means the amount of money pledged by another person for the appearance of the defendant. If the defendant fails to appear the person going his bail must pay the stipulated amount into the court. The payment of the bail does not, however, relieve the delinquent defendant of further punishment. He may be again seized and punished as according to the charge, and furthermore may be given additional punishment for “jumping” his bail.
“The defendant usually binds himself as principal with two sureties; but sometimes the bail alone binds himself as principal, and sometimes one surety is accepted by the sheriff. The bail bond may be said to stand in the place of the defendant as far as the sheriff is concerned, and if properly taken, furnishes the sheriff a complete answer to the requirement of the writ, requiring him to take and produce the body of the defendant.”—Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 211.
United States Constitution, Amendment VIII.
“The amount of fine is frequently left to the discretion of the court, who ought to proportion the fine to the offense.”—Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, p. 377.
“The object of punishment is to reform the offender, to deter him and others from committing like offenses, and to protect society.” “A state may provide a severer punishment for a second than for a first offense providing it is dealt out to all alike.”—159 U. S. 673.