[PR Pond]
It appears likely that voters will have a say over the future of bail in California.
An industry-funded campaign to overturn Senate Bill 10, which would eliminate money bail, has collected more than 600,000 signatures to qualify a referendum for the November 2020 ballot. It needs to submit just 366,000 valid signatures from registered voters by Nov. 26.
Campaign manager Jeff Flint said they are “going through our own internal validation process” right now and plan to submit the signatures in about a week. “We’re very confident,” Flint said.
SB 10, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed in August, would replace the traditional bail system with “risk assessments” of individuals and non-monetary conditions of release.
Supporters hailed the law, which is set to take effect next October and goes further than any other state in the country to remove money from pretrial detention, as a landmark step for economic equity in the criminal justice system. But bail bondsmen, facing an existential threat, immediately launched the referendum drive. If it appears on the 2020 ballot, SB 10 will be placed on hold, buying the industry at least one more year, even if voters ultimately uphold the new law.]
It appears likely that voters will have a say over the future of bail in California.
An industry-funded campaign to overturn Senate Bill 10, which would eliminate money bail, has collected more than 600,000 signatures to qualify a referendum for the November 2020 ballot. It needs to submit just 366,000 valid signatures from registered voters by Nov. 26.
Campaign manager Jeff Flint said they are “going through our own internal validation process” right now and plan to submit the signatures in about a week. “We’re very confident,” Flint said.
SB 10, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed in August, would replace the traditional bail system with “risk assessments” of individuals and non-monetary conditions of release.
Supporters hailed the law, which is set to take effect next October and goes further than any other state in the country to remove money from pretrial detention, as a landmark step for economic equity in the criminal justice system. But bail bondsmen, facing an existential threat, immediately launched the referendum drive. If it appears on the 2020 ballot, SB 10 will be placed on hold, buying the industry at least one more year, even if voters ultimately uphold the new law.
