Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 20, 1993 TAG: 9305200215
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
"Being a female down there, you're less than equal to a man," said Sherry D. Battle, a Norfolk bondswoman for about a year until her certificate was taken away in February.
"Being a black woman down there, you're less than that."
Court officials have offered to lift the revocation if Battle can show that her outstanding bonds are below her $200,000 limit. But if the offer is an attempt to get her to drop her federal lawsuit over the revocation, she refuses to go along.
The suit against Chief Deputy Circuit Court Clerk Gary Wright, Magistrate Charles Studds and Circuit Judge Alfred W. Whitehurst seeks reinstatement, $2.2 million in damages and an Battle apology.
Bondsmen are allowed to write bonds equal to the amount of cash and/or property posted with the court. But Battle contends that other bondsmen routinely exceed their limits without penalty.
Studds and Whitehurst declined to comment on the dispute.
Wright said only that Battle sometimes failed to file required monthly reports listing outstanding bonds.
Battle, a Virginia Beach resident who also owns a modeling agency, said she got into the bail bond business because "it just seemed to be lucrative."
She also said she liked the competition, if not her competitors, some of whom she called "butchers and used-car salesmen."
It can be a cutthroat business, according to some observers.
"It's a very competitive business," said Magistrate Raymond Russell. "It's like dog-eat-dog. If they have a common interest, they work together. Otherwise they're at each other's throats."
Bail bondsmen work in the court lobby, looking for clients and writing bonds at two metal tables reserved for them. They generally charge fees totaling 10 percent of the bond, but discounts often are given in the competition for business.
Battle said other bondsmen often stole her clients by undercutting her rates. Most of her colleagues, including a few women, declined to discuss her complaint.
Frank Bowe, a longtime Norfolk bondsman, said the system is competitive but clean.
He said bondsmen have organized into courthouse work shifts. If it's not your shift, you don't solicit business in the lobby, he said.
"We have orderly procedures, but some people feel the license gives them the right to do whatever they want to do," he said.
by CNB