Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Gov. Brown Signs Bill Ending Bail Before Trial
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 7 years ago on
August 28, 2018

Share

SACRAMENTO — California will become the first state to eliminate bail for suspects awaiting trial under a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

“Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly.” — Gov. Jerry Brown
The bill will replace bail with a risk-assessment system, although it’s still unclear how the system will work. It will take effect in October 2019.
Brown’s signature gives the state’s Judicial Council broad authority to reshape pretrial detention policies.
“Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly,” Brown said.
Each county will use the council’s framework as a basis to set its own procedures for deciding whom to release before trial, potentially creating a patchwork system based on where a suspect lives.
Most suspects arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors will be released within 12 hours of being booked under the new law. Those facing serious, violent felonies will not be eligible for pretrial release.

24 Hours to Determine Release

The legislation gives officials 24 hours to determine whether other suspects should be released before trial. That time can be extended by 12 hours if necessary.
Some criminal justice reform advocates worry defendants will spend weeks in jail while their lawyers try to prove they deserve to be set free.
Opponents of the legislation say it gives judges too much power. Some worry dangerous people will go free and won’t return for trial.
Supporters, including the Judicial Council headed by the state Supreme Court’s chief justice, say the change will end the unfair practice of imprisoning people simply because they are poor. Incarceration should instead depend on the risk a defendant poses if they are released, they argue.

Newsom and Cox on Opposite Sides

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is pitted against Republican John Cox in the race to succeed Brown, said that a “person’s checking account balance should never determine how they are treated under the law. Cash bail criminalizes poverty and with Governor Brown’s signature today, California has opened the door to pursue and perfect a just pre-trial system.”
During his campaign, Cox has said that he opposes changes to the bail system.
The bail industry also opposed the bill, labeling it as extreme.
“I think the bail industry and the research shows we do our best work, in terms of reducing long-term fugitive rates and returning people to court when they flee, in high-risk felony cases,” Jeff Clayton, director of the American Bail Coalition, a trade group, told NPR last year. “We don’t prevent people from committing crime, but neither do any of the other types of release.”
Other states such as New Jersey and New Mexico have overhauled their bail systems, although neither state has completely eliminated bail.
The Judicial Council is the policy-making body for California’s courts. It creates rules and procedures to ensure consistency across the state.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Devin Nunes’ $47.6M Pay Is 13 Times Trump Media’s Revenue

DON'T MISS

The Steelers Move on From George Pickens by Trading Mercurial Receiver to Cowboys

DON'T MISS

Jesús Sánchez’s RBI Single in 10th Inning Lifts Marlins to Win Over Dodgers

DON'T MISS

Giants Score 9 Runs in the 11th Inning to Beat the Cubs

DON'T MISS

What Customers Can Expect as Rite Aid Closes or Sells All Its Drugstores

DON'T MISS

Warriors Take Game 1 From Cold-Shooting Wolves Despite Curry’s Departure With Hamstring Strain

DON'T MISS

Meta Awarded $167 Million in Damages From Israeli Cybersecurity Firm

DON'T MISS

Trump Plans to Announce That the US Will Call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Israeli Strikes on School Housing Displaced and Market Kill 38 in Gaza, Medics Say

DON'T MISS

Cardinals Enter Sistine Chapel for Secret Conclave to Elect New Pope

UP NEXT

Warriors Take Game 1 From Cold-Shooting Wolves Despite Curry’s Departure With Hamstring Strain

UP NEXT

Caitlin Clark’s Return to Iowa for Preseason Game Draws Average ESPN Viewership of 1.3 Million

UP NEXT

Trump Says His Administration ‘Is Not Going to Pay’ for California High-Speed Rail

UP NEXT

US Supreme Court Lets Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Take Effect

UP NEXT

Ravens Release Justin Tucker After Accusations by Massage Therapists of Inappropriate Behavior

UP NEXT

Draymond Green’s Vow to Keep His Cool Helps Warriors Advance to in West Semis

UP NEXT

Ian Happ Homers as the Cubs Beat the Sloppy Giants

UP NEXT

Trump Orders the Reopening of Alcatraz Prison

UP NEXT

At Least Three Drowned After Small Boat Overturns Near San Diego

UP NEXT

LA Fire Survivors Accuse State Farm of Delaying Claims. Should It Get OK for a Rate Hike?

Giants Score 9 Runs in the 11th Inning to Beat the Cubs

53 minutes ago

What Customers Can Expect as Rite Aid Closes or Sells All Its Drugstores

54 minutes ago

Warriors Take Game 1 From Cold-Shooting Wolves Despite Curry’s Departure With Hamstring Strain

60 minutes ago

Meta Awarded $167 Million in Damages From Israeli Cybersecurity Firm

1 hour ago

Trump Plans to Announce That the US Will Call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf, Officials Say

1 hour ago

Israeli Strikes on School Housing Displaced and Market Kill 38 in Gaza, Medics Say

2 hours ago

Cardinals Enter Sistine Chapel for Secret Conclave to Elect New Pope

2 hours ago

Greece, Egypt Agree to Boost Ties, Back Gaza Reconstruction Plan

2 hours ago

Dyer Wants Small Start for Fresno’s Plan to Expand Southeast Development

2 hours ago

Costa, Valadao Push to Improve Rural Mail Service

3 hours ago

Devin Nunes’ $47.6M Pay Is 13 Times Trump Media’s Revenue

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group have stumbled since the company went public 13 months ago, but former President Donald Trump an...

21 minutes ago

Devin Nunes, chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group, on stage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., March 2, 2023. President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will appoint Nunes, a former member of Congress who used his role as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to try to delegitimize the Trump-Russia investigation, to head an independent advisory board on espionage policy. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)
21 minutes ago

Devin Nunes’ $47.6M Pay Is 13 Times Trump Media’s Revenue

29 minutes ago

The Steelers Move on From George Pickens by Trading Mercurial Receiver to Cowboys

43 minutes ago

Jesús Sánchez’s RBI Single in 10th Inning Lifts Marlins to Win Over Dodgers

53 minutes ago

Giants Score 9 Runs in the 11th Inning to Beat the Cubs

54 minutes ago

What Customers Can Expect as Rite Aid Closes or Sells All Its Drugstores

60 minutes ago

Warriors Take Game 1 From Cold-Shooting Wolves Despite Curry’s Departure With Hamstring Strain

A branch of NSO in Sapir, Israel, March 6, 2023. The Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group was ordered on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, to pay $167 million in damages to Meta, capping a six-year legal battle after NSO hacked 1,400 WhatsApp accounts belonging to journalists, human-rights activists and government officials. (Amit Elkayam/The New York Times)
1 hour ago

Meta Awarded $167 Million in Damages From Israeli Cybersecurity Firm

President Donald Trump speaks before Steve Witkoff is sworn as special envoy during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
1 hour ago

Trump Plans to Announce That the US Will Call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf, Officials Say

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend