News Scan

SF DA Abolishes Cash Bail:  Not to be outdone by New York City, which abolished cash bail on January 1, the new ultra-progressive District Attorney of San Francisco announced yesterday that his office would no longer ask for bail.  Charles Fain Lehman of the Washington Free Beacon reports that, instead of requesting bail, DA Chesa Boudin will submit a risk assessment to the judge on the likelihood that the accused will show up for trial and whether he would present a risk to the public if released.

In 2018 the California Legislature passed and Governor Jerry Brown signed SB-10, which eliminates cash bail, into law.  But before it was slated to go into effect last October, the bail bond industry qualified a referendum to abolish the law for the November 2020 ballot, putting SB-10 on hold until the voters decide.  Law enforcement experts say that no DA in the state, including Boudin, has the authority to unilaterally abolish bail.  “California’s Constitution and laws include cash bail in appropriate cases, and it is not for the district attorney to repeal these provisions by not requesting bail,” said CJLF Legal Director Kent Scheidegger.  “Judges should  continue the present practice until the people vote on it in November, no matter what the DA says,” he added.