Brown postpones bail system changes

Talks on Senate bill will continue through end of 2017

Legislative efforts to change the state’s bail system have been pushed into the next year, Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers behind the measure said Friday.

Discussions on SB10, which the Senate passed in June, are expected to continue through the end of the year, Brown said in a statement with state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys (Los Angeles County), and Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, author of the bill.

Bail reform proponents say the current system unfairly penalizes the poor, who often must remain behind bars while awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail.

The legislation seeks to eliminate jail time for people accused of nonviolent offenses by placing the basis of their pretrial release solely on whether they are a public safety or flight risk.

The current system of cash bail relies heavily on whether defendants can afford bail, which is determined primarily on the gravity of the charges.

“I believe that inequities exist in California’s bail system, and I look forward to working this fall on ways to reform the system in a costeffective and fair manner, considering public safety as well as the rights of the ac-

cused,” Brown said.

Under SB10, a pretrial services agency would assess flight risk of a defendant based on the charges, past criminal history and record for showing up to past hearings. A recommendation to a judge would be made off of the assessment.

“The truth is today, under the cash bail system, if you can write a check, public safety doesn’t matter,” Hertzberg said. “We need a system that prioritizes public safety and restores justice to the pretrial process, regardless of income level.”

Judges have discretion to set bail higher or lower than the recommended bail schedule. The bill, however, would require judges to set monetary bail “at the least restrictive level necessary” if they do not agree with the recommendation.

The bill would also require prosecutors to file a motion if they wish to seek pretrial detention, as opposed to the current system that keeps defendants in custody until they post bail. This portion of the bill has many prosecutors throughout the state joining bail bondsmen to oppose the measure, arguing that it would jeopardize public safety rather than enhance it.

In San Francisco, all sides of the city’s criminal justice system have united against the current bail system. A recent report by the city treasurer found that cash bail doesn’t just hurt poor defendants, but their families as well. Only people who can afford to pay the full bail amount get a full refund if they make their court appearances, but those who manage to scrape together the 10 percent of the amount needed to pay a bail bond agent don’t get their money back, even if they’re acquitted.

Since May 2016, San Francisco has been experimenting with a pretrial risk assessment tool created by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.

The tool came under scrutiny this month when a Pretrial Diversion Project staff member miscalculated the score of a man who violated probation twice and was facing a new gun possession charge. The prosecutor did not object to the faulty recommendation and a judge ordered the release of the man, who was later arrested on suspicion of killing a 71-year-old photographer in an armed robbery on Twin Peaks.