Amendments to the bill give judges discretion to keep defendants in jail.
In late August, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that will make California the first state to allow defendants in criminal cases to leave jail prior to trial without posting bail. SB10 has been in the works for some time as part of a broader series of criminal justice reforms. Yet recent amendments to the bill have led to its early sponsors, including advocates for criminal defendants, to condemn it. The new law will go into effect in October 2019.
Prior to the enactment of SB10, California’s bail system function in a similar way to how bail worked across the country. After a person is arrested and charged with a crime, he or she must put up cash bail or a bond, with the amount based on the seriousness of the charges. If the defendant cannot post bond, then he or she will not be freed while awaiting trial — a reality that many say favored wealthier defendants while putting less well-off suspects at a disadvantage.
According to a recent state study, more than 48,000 inmates in county jails across California (the equivalent of 2/3 of the jail population) have not yet been convicted of a crime. Instead, they are held because they cannot make bail.
Although SB10 was championed by many advocates for criminal justice reform, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), criminal defense attorneys, and public defenders, changes to the bill made by the legislature have those same groups criticizing it. The bill now allows judges to use their discretion to determine if defendants can be released based on standardized risk assessments. Based on these assessments, judges will then determine if a defendant is safe enough to be released — with little chance for the defendant to appeal this decision. A prior version of the bill would have used the assessments to qualify defendants for pretrial release. Those who did not qualify would be entitled to a hearing.
SB10 does place restrictions on who is eligible for pretrial release. People held on capital charges, such as first degree murder, will not be eligible. Similarly, those held on serious or violent felony convictions or domestic violence would not be released pretrial. Finally, anyone who had been released previously on bail and failed to appear in court would not be eligible for release.
While the elimination of cash bail is an important step forward in California, the law may prove to be less than ideal. As a Riverside criminal defense attorney can explain, if a judge decides that a person is not safe to be released, he or she may not have any way to appeal that decision — which could be a significant hardship.
If you have been charged with a crime, a bail hearing will still be part of the process through September 2019. An experienced Riverside criminal defense attorney can help you understand what to expect at a bail hearing, and can argue for a reasonable amount so that you can be released and move forward with your life while you await trial. After the law goes into effect, your Riverside criminal defense attorney can work with you to advocate for pretrial release.
At the Chambers Law Firm, our team of legal professionals is dedicated to fighting for our clients. We stay on top of the latest legal develops so we can serve you best. If you have been charged with a crime, contact us today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation with a top notch Riverside criminal defense attorney.
