Yes on Proposition 25 to replace California’s unfair cash-bail system

California has known for years that its cash-bail system discriminates against the poor and people of color while transferring hundreds of millions of dollars from low-income communities to the lucrative bail-bond industry.

The wealthy can afford to post bail while awaiting trial, but poor people must languish in jail or turn to bond companies that charge about 10% of the bail amount to free them. Little wonder that a 2017 report ordered by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye found that cash bail “exacerbates socioeconomic disparities and racial bias.”

Voters have the opportunity this November to right that wrong by voting yes on Proposition 25.

The ballot measure will be at the center of one of the most expensive, hard-fought campaigns in California this fall. Here’s why:

The United States and the Philippines are the only two countries in the world that allow companies to operate forprofit bail operations. The industry is powerful. And profitable. The top 10 companies cover an estimated $14 billion in bonds every year, raking in $2 billion in profits. California accounts for an estimated 25% of that business.

In 2018, the Legislature, recognizing the discriminatory aspects of the system, passed Senate Bill 10, which would make California the first state in the nation to end the use of cash bail for all detained suspects awaiting trials. The legislation would instead use risk assessments to determine whether a detained suspect should be granted pretrial release and under what conditions. But the day after then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill into law, the bail industry launched a drive to overturn it.

The industry collected enough signatures to qualify a referendum for the ballot, putting the legislation on hold until voters decide the issue in the November election. A vote in favor of Prop. 25 supports implementation of the new rules in SB 10. A vote against Prop. 25 sides with the bailbond industry push to stop the reform.

Under the current system, wealthy defendants can post bail directly to the court and get the money back at the completion of their cases. But low-income people charged with crimes don’t have the means to post the full bail. They have two options: Stay in jail, losing their income and possibly their job or use a private bail-bond company to gain freedom while awaiting trial. Those defendants must pay a nonrefundable portion of the total bail to the bond companies — roughly 10% of the bail amount.

SB 10 would change that approach. It would require county superior courts to create a computer algorithm to determine before trial a suspect’s risk of flight or danger to the public. The intent is to use scientific research as the basis for determining conditions of release. California’s Judicial Council would be charged with ensuring the validity of the county courts’ algorithms.

Defendants rated as being high risks to public safety or of failing to appear in court would stay in jail unless they convince a judge to release them. Suspects rated as a medium risk would be detained or released depending on the superior courts’ established rules. Those deemed a low risk to appear in court and to public safety would be released.

Almost every Democratic member of the Legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Gov. Brown and the League of Women Voters support Prop. 25.

The bail-bond industry is opposed, as is the ACLU, which makes for strange bedfellows. The ACLU pulled its support of SB 10 prior to the Legislature’s final vote on the bill, arguing that it would give judges too much discretion and could promote the same kind of racial bias that cash bail offers.

That would largely depend on the strength of the rules designed by the county courts. But if weaknesses emerge, the state Judicial Council can seek remedies. SB 10 calls for a full review of the system in 2023.

Those are reasonable safeguards. What’s not acceptable is the status quo. Vote yes on Prop. 25 to replace California’s cash-bail system.