ORANGE COUNTY - The Judicial Council’s new rule of setting bail statewide at $0 for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies is an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19 infection among the jail population, but the rule doesn’t sit well with Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
The Judicial Council, led by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, adopted the change on April 6 during an emergency meeting after reviewing more than 100 written comments by judges, public defenders, district attorneys, law enforcement, legal aid and advocacy groups, according to California Courts.
Emergency Rule 4 sets an emergency bail schedule for all misdemeanor and felony offenses and provides 13 exceptions, such as violence or a serious felony. However, Spitzer sees the change as a way to withdraw judicial discretion, which is a judge’s ability to make decisions without obligation to case law or legislation.
“The Judicial Council is telling judges that they have no discretion to release someone, unless they meet one of the exceptions in Rule 4d,” Spitzer told the Southern California Record. “Judges either have to set bail at zero or no bail. What the rule should say is deny, reduce, increase bail or keep it where it's presently set.”
Prison reform advocates who are against bail allege that cash bail discriminates against lower-income parties and can result in eviction or job loss.
Spitzer, on the other hand, foresees a worst-case scenario.
“There's no risk assessment or consideration of criminal history," he said. "You will see thousands of individuals who never come back to court because they have absconded. The reason for bail is to let a defendant out of jail while assuring appearance at a later date, but if a judge sets zero bail and the defendant absconds, there's no bail bondsmen who will go find the defendant."