If staying in jail without bail were considered "cruel and unusual punishment", then it would be unconstitutional for anyone to be kept in jail.

Cruel and unusual punishment does not apply here, and isn't really clearly defined regardless.

I personally agree that not holding him is good fwiw.

However, it also is horribly inconsistent. People who are guilty of driving while black, or non-violent drug offenses, or so on, are given much less generous treatment when it comes to unsecured bail, and when it comes to evaluating if they're a flight risk.

> People who are guilty of driving while black, or non-violent drug offenses, or so on, are given much less generous treatment when it comes to unsecured bail

There's several factors at work here, but the most significant is that most offenders, especially most low-level offenders, are charged in state systems, and most (but not all, and this is changing, erratically) of the state systems rely much more heavily on financial conditions, and on secured bonds as the primary condition, in part due to very intense lobbying by the bail bonds industry to state governments (both directly and using astroturf groups to lobby the citizenry when their position is threatened.)

> and we can use a bond to ensure he'll appear

That is really the crux of the matter, and where people are (reasonably) disagreeing with you. Does a $4M bond (from his parents' assets, not his) and a $246M IOU really ensure SBF will show up in court rather than fleeing?

What's the reasoning why it wouldn't, and why are we forgetting that he's also wearing an ankle monitor?

There are a lot of people building their understanding of this situation out of breathless headlines and misleading tweets. And I think there's an element of something like, "if he escapes, that means he really was a genius all along, and now I feel a little less bad for losing my money/believing in him".

An ankle monitor doesn't do anything to prevent you from fleeing, since it can be removed with any number of readily available tools.

I'm sure it is possible to defeat an ankle monitor in some way, but I really doubt simply knocking it off will work (not to say you can't knock out off, but that this will be detected & interpreted as an escape attempt). The police aren't stupid.

Assuming someone is paying attention: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/12/9b5b1eff724150/...

Having someone pay attention is also all that you need to prevent the world's most wanted man from hanging himself in a federal prison in Manhattan.

I.e., scissors.

technically he has a protection from punishment, period, without due process of law.