San Francisco, CA - Today, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rodgers issued a 41-page decision in favor of plaintiff’s who challenged the use of bail schedules as unconstitutional in San Francisco. The case, which was filed in 2015, was defended by the California Bail Agent’s Association.
Statement on Buffin vs. San Francisco
March 4, 2019
We are disappointed that Judge Gonzalez Rogers adopted the strict scrutiny standard of review in terms of analyzing the equal protection claims brought under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution concerning so-called “wealth-based” discrimination. Two higher courts, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits have already ruled otherwise and is contrary to Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruling, however, that did not seem to concern this liberal judge in California.
The Supreme Court will eventually decide the issue in our favor. We have no doubt Judge Gonzalez Rogers got it wrong, but we are not surprised considering the source. We encourage the United States Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Walker v. Calhoun, Georgia, a similar pending case in order to settle this matter and end this nonsense once and for all.
- Jeffrey J. Clayton, Executive Director
RELATED: US Court of Appeals Rules Monetary Bail and Bail Schedules Constitutional
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