JUSTICE_BY_ALGORITHM: Rejected by Iowa Judges There has been a lot of talk about the use of a pretrial risk assessment tool, a criminal justice algorithm, in deciding who gets bail in Iowa and what conditions of release to which a defendant will be subjected. In fact, there is currently underRead More →
The ACLU of North Carolina is advocating for sweeping changes in the pretrial release of criminal defendants. Yes, bail reform fever has come to the Tar Heel State and the North Carolina chapter of the ACLU wants it bad. They point to the success of the MacArthur Foundation funded programRead More →
Detention, Release From Jail, and Computerized Bail Justice in California: Is it 1984 All Over Again? What Can California Learn From the Last 30 Years of Bail Reform? Journal UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review, 2(1) The following excerpt was published in the peer reviewed 2018 UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review,Read More →
Reforms have made Californians less safe and cost lives (excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle – November 23, 2018) For nearly a decade, California has been sold on a series of public safety “reforms” built on a foundation of empty promises. The kind of promises told by people who wantRead More →
The ACLU of California is apparently not thankful this Thanksgiving for the bail industry. But we have news for them: they should be. We are the only group leading a charge to actively challenge Senate Bill 10 and to stop this mass incarceration/electronic incarceration/mass state supervision of the un-convicted actRead More →
Los Angles, CA – Today, 576,745 signatures were submitted as part of the referendum effort to overturn Senate Bill 10 (SB10) in California, the dangerous “bail reform” legislation passed during the 2018 session. The coalition consists of public safety leaders, criminal justice reformers, crime victims’ advocates, concerned citizens and bailRead More →
The ACLU of Texas – Careful Who You Partner With The ACLU of Texas is suing Galveston county, and let’s just say it isn’t going very well. The County, wisely, made a few simple changes to its bail system in line with what noted bail lawyer Ken Good, Esq. recommended some monthsRead More →
In a letter to the Virginia State Crime Commission this month, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring outlined his vision of bail reforms which include the expansion of government run pretrial services and limiting judicial discretion. Virginia’s top cop seems to have followed the lead of other jurisdictions across theRead More →
Michigan Bail Reform has finally arrived…a 9-Bill package that that rewards those criminally charged and dismisses victims. Michigan Representative David LeGrand (D-75), after over a year of talk, has finally introduced a bail reform package in Michigan. The 9-Bill package, filed October 17, 2018, looks to overhaul the bail systemRead More →
It is Time for the Texas Legislature to Act to Fix these Procedural Due Process Issues in the Bail Setting and Review Process On Thursday September 20, 2018, U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunctionRead More →
