California Passes Law That Eliminates Cash Bail

Reuters
8/29/2018
Updated:
8/30/2018

LOS ANGELES—California will become the first U.S. state to eliminate the cash bail system for people awaiting criminal trial, under a bill signed on Aug. 28 by Gov. Jerry Brown that will take effect in October 2019.

“Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly,” Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The law will allow defendants to be released after being arrested if they are deemed likely to appear for court hearings and pose little danger to the public. Judges would be allowed to rule out release for people accused of felony acts of violence, misdemeanor domestic violence, sexual assault, making threats and certain other crimes.

Civil liberties and human rights groups have long called for reforming the bail system, which has its roots in medieval England, but some of them opposed the final version of the California bill.

“It cannot guarantee a substantial reduction in the number of Californians detained while awaiting trial,” leaders of three American Civil Liberties Union chapters in California said in a joint statement.

Local court systems in California would be allowed to set their own standards for releasing people considered a medium risk of endangering the public or not appearing in court.

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye supported the new bill.

“Our old system of money bail was outdated, unsafe, and unfair,” Cantil-Sakauye said in a statement.

In the United States, defendants are usually released if they can arrange payment of a cash bond, which a court can hold until the legal case is concluded. Judges may determine a defendant is ineligible for bail, such as in some murder cases where public safety might be at risk.

Federal courts rarely require defendants to post cash bail. Instead, judges can set conditions for release, such as supervision and travel restrictions.

By Alex Dobuzinskis