Illinois and Los Angeles Eliminate Cash Bail

The state of Illinois and Los Angeles County are eliminating the requirement that misdemeanor and non-violent felony suspects post bail to gain release from jail prior to trial as reported by The Chicago Sun Times and The California Globe.   In both cases the new laws will remove cash bail as a condition that could be set by a judge when considering whether someone was likely to return to court for their hearings or posed a danger to the public.  As one Los Angeles Superior Court judge explained ” A low-risk arrestee should not be held in jail simply because they cannot post the necessary funds to be released pending arraignment.”

In both jurisdictions auto theft, grand larceny and simple assault are not considered serious enough to require bail.  According to the Sun Times, “Studies of jurisdictions that have nearly eliminated cash bail have shown no significant increase in crime generally, nor by defendants released while awaiting trial. In some cases, defendants were more likely to return to court.”

We don’t know what studies they are referring to but, data released last September by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services provided researchers at the Manhattan Institute with the necessary information to compare the rearrest rate for offenders prior to the state’s 2020 bail reform law with the rearrest rate after the law took effect. The intent of the bail reform law was to force judges to release more arrestees without bail, called Non-Monetary Release (NMR). Charles Fain Lehman’s piece in the City Journal confirmed what many in law enforcement had predicted: when offenders are released without bail, they are more likely to be rearrested for committing new crimes.  The only media that covered the story was a September New York Post article by Jim Quinn that noted: “in 2019, 166 of the NMR participants got re-arrested each month. In 2021, the number soared to 445 re-arrests a month, including more than 300 felonies each month.” That’s over 2-1⁄2 times more rearrests per month.

Another study released in February by the Yolo County District Attorney also tends to refute the claim by the Sun Times.   “The average recidivism rate for those released on zero bail was 78% over 18 months, while the average recidivism rate for those released on bail was only 46%. Thus, arrested individuals released on zero bail reoffended at an average rate that was 70% higher than arrestees who posted bail…. Individuals released on zero bail committed new felonies 90% more often than those who posted bail…. Individuals released on zero bail committed new violent offenses 200% more often than those who posted bail.”

The fallacy that the government can determine which arrestees are non-violent based upon a citation or arrest for a current crime is compounded by the fact that the public and law enforcement professionals consider auto theft, grand larceny and assault to be serious crimes.  Serious and violent criminals often have long criminal records of committing all types of crimes.  State and county no-bail laws ignore this.

Zero bail = more crime.