Los Angeles - Zero Bail Policy

In a major development for bail reform advocates, a Los Angeles County judge this week blocked officials from requiring cash bail for people accused of low-level, nonviolent offenses before their arraignment. The preliminary injunction effectively reinstates the emergency zero bail policy that Los Angeles County had implemented at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Judge Lawrence K. Riff of Los Angeles County Superior Court granted the injunction after reviewing extensive evidence presented by a group of plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit challenging what they termed Los Angeles’ “wealth-based detention system.” The plaintiffs argue that requiring defendants to pay for their release before trial entrenches racial inequities and penalizes the poor in violation of constitutional right.

In his ruling, Judge Riff stated that enforcing monetary bail against individuals too poor to pay is an apparent “constitutional violation” causing irreparable harm. He pointed to research showing pretrial detention correlated with loss of employment, inability to care for children, and pressure to plead guilty regardless of actual guilt.

Most crucially, studies demonstrate that money bail itself leads to higher rates of new criminal activity and failures to appear in court compared to releasing defendants on their own recognizance or with non-monetary conditions.

Given this evidence, requiring unaffordable bail pretrial undermines rather than protects public safety, Judge Riff concluded.

While the preliminary injunction applies only to certain low-level, nonviolent offenses and excludes serious crimes, it represents a major blow to the entrenched cash bail system in the nation’s largest county. Activists view the ruling as confirmation that the status quo bail model is fundamentally flawed, forcing innocent people into guilty pleas while allowing the wealthy to escape consequences.

But the injunction does not eliminate bail entirely. It provides county law enforcement and prosecutors 60 days to develop revised pretrial detention plans focused on risk rather than financial means. Officials must report back July 5 on constitutionally valid replacements for cash bail that protect public safety and court appearance rates. A hearing is scheduled for July 10.

Bail reform advocates plan to closely monitor the replacement protocols, insisting that subjective risk assessment tools could effectively recreate the current system’s inequities if not designed to combat biases. Activists are demanding that stakeholders directly impacted by pretrial detention have a voice in shaping new procedures.

For now, the zero cash bail order stands as confirmation of the urgent need for change identified by reformers. Jurisdictions across the country are rethinking money bail amid activism challenging the human cost of incarcerating the underprivileged. While Los Angeles settles on lasting solutions, its court system took a bold step toward righting injustice. For that, bail reformers seeking a more equitable society can celebrate a hard-won victory.