"The California Supreme Court unanimously said no more. The court held that pretrial liberty is the norm; incarceration before conviction for any crime is the rare, carefully limited exception."
"As the court explained in its Kowalczyk ruling, pretrial detention requires strong evidence of a serious charge and clear and convincing evidence establishing a substantial likelihood that the defendant's release would result in great bodily harm to others."
"Courts have used money bail to detain poor people accused of nonviolent offenses with devastating repercussions for their employment, education, housing, access to public benefits, immigration status, and family stability."
"Courts can no longer use unaffordable bail as a backdoor detention order. Where detention isn't authorized, bail must be set at an attainable amount, based on the defendant's actual circumstances."
The California Supreme Court ruled that pretrial liberty is the norm, and bail must be set at reasonable amounts. Courts previously used unaffordable bail to detain individuals, particularly the poor, accused of nonviolent offenses. This practice led to significant negative impacts on defendants' lives. The recent ruling closes this loophole, mandating that bail must be attainable based on a defendant's circumstances. This decision builds on a previous ruling that deemed wealth-based detention unconstitutional, reinforcing the need for fair treatment in the justice system.
#california-supreme-court #pretrial-detention #bail-reform #criminal-justice #unconstitutional-practices
Read at Los Angeles Times
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