California Abolishes Cash Bail Despite Criticism From Left and Right
“The unanswered question is whether the new law will actually reduce incarceration. Conservative critics (notably the bail bond industry, which would be all but abolished in California by the new law, but also some opponents of criminal justice reform generally) think it will, to the peril of public safety. But some original sponsors of the California bail reform initiative actually opposed the legislation Brown signed on grounds that the new system replaces cash bail with too much discretion for judges to jail defendants after applying ‘risk-assessment’ tools of the danger they allegedly pose, as the Los Angeles Times reports:”