Los Angeles court system SUED by 12 cities to stop zero-bail policy
10/06/2023 / By Zoey Sky
Twelve Los Angeles County cities recently filed a lawsuit at the Los Angeles Superior Court asking a judge to cease the court system’s new zero-bail policy that took effect Sunday, Oct. 1.
Announced last July, the Superior Court’s decision to reinstate a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19)-era bail schedule removed cash bail for certain non-violent crimes.
The group of cities is asking the L.A. court to stop the implementation of the zero-bail policy. According to a press release issued on Sept. 29 by the City of Glendora, the cities involved in the lawsuit are prioritizing the “safety and security of their residents, businesses and law enforcement.”
The 12 cities filing the lawsuit are:
- Arcadia
- Artesia
- Covina
- Downey
- Glendora
- Industry
- Lakewood
- La Verne
- Palmdale
- Santa Fe Springs
- Vernon
- Whittier
In the press release, Glendora officials said that because of the “severity of the impact this will have on local communities,” they expect that more cities will join in their efforts.
Glendale Mayor Gary Boyer explained that the zero-bail schedule went against the city’s “duty to protect its community.” (Related: Rapper 50 Cent says LA is FINISHED after reinstatement of zero-bail policy.)
Boyer added that it is their duty to their communities to ensure the safety of residents, people who work in the area and tourists. He also said they are against the zero-bail schedule because it “fails to support local leaders in their pledge to protect their residents,” which is unacceptable.
The Los Angeles Superior Court implemented its zero-bail schedule despite several concerns expressed by the county’s district attorney’s office, sheriff, police and other officials.
Why are the counties hesitant about the new bail policy?
The 12 LA county cities are hesitant about the zero-bail policy because, under the new policy, law enforcement can choose to “cite and release, book and release, or ask for a magistrate’s review of an arrest.” This means that the case would be reviewed by a judge before bail is applied.
However, their worry stems from the fact that many non-violent misdemeanors and felonies would qualify for zero-bail. In turn, officers would simply release a defendant at the location where they were arrested after issuing them a ticket.
Samantha Jessner, Los Angeles County’s Presiding Judge, said that under the new schedule, almost all defendants facing nonviolent felony charges or misdemeanors will be cited and released or freed on certain conditions within 24 hours of arrest.
As she was unveiling the new policy last July, Jessner said in a statement that someone’s ability to pay a large sum of money “should not be the determining factor in deciding whether that person, who is presumed innocent, stays in jail before trial or is released.”
She also claimed that a low-risk arrestee should not be held in jail just because they are unable to “post the necessary funds to be released pending arraignment.”
On Sept. 26, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna talked to his county supervisors about his concerns regarding the new policy. He also warned that at least 20 percent of defendants released on zero-bail are rearrested.
Under the new schedule, most of those police arrests will be released at the location of the arrest with a notice to appear in court or be brought to jail to be “booked and released,” along with a notice to appear in court, said Glendale officials.
However, a court appearance will be weeks or months away from the date of the arrest.
Zero-bail would apply to almost all misdemeanor crimes and an increasing list of non-violent felonies.
In the release from Glendale city officials, the list includes:
- Car thefts
- Car burglaries
- Drug sales
- Forgery
- Possession of stolen property
- Retail and commercial thefts and burglaries
- Thefts of property at any value
On Sept. 26, Los Angeles County Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Woo told county supervisors that the felonies added to the schedule are considered serious and violent offenses under the state’s penal code:
- Hot-prowl burglaries, which happen when a resident is home
- Residential burglary
- Retail theft
- Selling drugs
Someone arrested while on zero-bail could get released and “re-offend”
Under the new bail schedule, judges can also institute non-financial conditions of release, along with home supervision overseen by probation officials or electronic monitoring.
A judge will be available at all hours, seven days a week, to make those rulings. The defendants arrested on supervised release or on parole won’t be eligible to be cited and released and will face judicial review.
According to the new schedule, misdemeanor offenses that will still require cash bail include domestic battery, stalking and violation of a protective order.
Individuals accused of rape, murder, manslaughter and most types of assault are still required to pay high cash bail amounts. Meanwhile, felony defendants including those accused of sex with a minor, battery on a peace officer and human trafficking will require a judicial review before being released.
Whittier officials called for more comprehensive case reviews, especially due to previous experiences where police officers were unaware of an arrestee’s prior bookings or citations in other jurisdictions.
Officials also said they were worried that the zero-bail schedule could be dangerous to public safety, “particularly where someone arrested for a crime while already on zero-bail gets released immediately to re-offend.”
Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri said that at the local government level, their main responsibility is to keep citizens safe. He added that it is becoming more difficult to ignore the challenges their communities are facing and “what happens when there are no consequences for breaking the law.”
The new system came to fruition after long-held criticism that cash bail favored the rich. In many cases, wealthy people arrested for the most serious of crimes could simply pay their way out of jail, while low-income people were stuck behind bars for far lesser offenses.
The new system is based not on cash, but on the risk an offender presents to public safety or the possibility someone might fail to appear in court.
After L.A. County implemented a zero-bail policy for many offenses to resolve jail crowding during the pandemic, some police officials said it instead resulted in an increase in crime and recidivism, or the tendency of a convicted criminal to re-offend.
However, a report to the Board of Supervisors revealed that failure to appear and re-arrest rates remained relatively unchanged during that time.
Visit CaliforniaCollapse.news for more updates on crime in Los Angeles.
Watch the video below as Nick Fuentes discusses the problems that can be caused by ending cash bail.
This video is from the Liberum Arbitrium channel on Brighteon.com.
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