California Passed a Law to Put Me Out of Business—And Taxpayers Will Get the Bill
Why eliminating bail is bad for my industry, defendants and everyone else.
Last August, and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown of California. The law takes away money-based bail as an option for those who have been arrested to be released from jail while awaiting trial. Instead, counties will now follow a pretrial risk assessment algorithm approved by judges to determine whether a defendant should be released, based on the level of the offense. In brief, those accused of most low-level misdemeanors will be booked and released. People charged with violent felonies or who have had serious felonies within the last five years will usually be held. The algorithm tool would
