[dropcap size=big]C[/dropcap]alifornia judges and math — not how much bail you can afford — will now make the ultimate decision as to whether a defendant must remain in custody prior to trial. The state last month became the first in the nation to eliminate the cash bail system, striking a death-knell blow to a $2 billion industry.
The new bill, which goes into effect in October of next year, would put the onus on judges or a mathematical algorithm to decide who gets released and any supervision stipulations. Under California’s current law, defendants buy their bail through a bondsman or put up cash. Often this means wealthier people can afford to post bail and poor people must either borrow or put up collateral in order to avoid sitting in a cell while awaiting trial.
Bail is currently set according to a schedule, which corresponds to the charge and the defendant’s history. The new law would replace this with an algorithm being called “Pretrial Assessment Services” that decides a defendant's risk level.
Those shown to be low to medium risk would be sent home without even seeing a judge, with some supervision conditions. Meanwhile, those deemed a high-risk are detained until a bail hearing. The judge considers the offender's rap sheet and history of adhering to court appearances.