The purpose of bail is to assure that a defendant will appear at his or her trial. An accused person may be released upon posting bail--depositing a sum of money with the court, which will be returned when the defendant appears in court for trial. The Constitution of the United States ( Amendment VIII ) guarantees that there will be no "excessive bail" required. Excessive bail would be bail that the defendant couldn't pay, not even with a bail bond. The purpose of bail is to assure appearance at trial, not to keep the accused in jail. When bail is used in this way, it may be considered "excessive".
There are legal means to refuse bail to an accused, who would then have to await trial in jail. This isn't done very often, but if a case can't be made for it, excessive bail may not be used as a substitute for denying bail.
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