KCRA - Updated: 5:00 PM PDT Jun 10, 2020
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The Judicial Council of California voted to end the COVID-19 emergency bail rule, which set bail at $0 for people accused of lower-level crimes as a way to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus in county jails.
The council voted 17-2 to end the $0 bail order as of June 20.
California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye also rescinded the statewide order that extends the time for people to be arraigned. The change requires people to again be arraigned within 48 hours.
The council initially said the orders would stay in place for 90 days after Gov. Gavin Newsom eventually lifts the emergency declaration that he issued in early March.
"The Judicial Council's action better reflects the current needs of our state, which has different health concerns and restrictions county-to-county based on the threat posed by COVID-19," Justice Marsha Slough, a Judicial Council member and chair of the Executive and Planning Committee, said in a statement. "We urge local courts to continue to use the emergency COVID-19 bail schedule where necessary to protect the health of the community, the courts, and the incarcerated. We are also asking courts to report back by June 20 on whether they plan to keep the COVID-19 emergency bail schedule, or another reduced bail schedule."
The judicial council could reinstitute the measures if public health conditions worsen or change.
| MORE | California judicial council suspends vote on COVID-19 eviction rules
The council said it was acting in response to Newsom's decision to allow most counties to lift some isolation orders, and in anticipation that lawmakers will act.
Now that there are numerous variations by county, “a statewide rule no longer serves our need to be flexible and responsive based on local health conditions,” council administrator Martin Hoshino said in a statement.
The bail order kept 20,000 suspects out of jail while they await trial, the council said. Justice Marsha Slough, a member of the council, in a statement urged local courts to continue keeping bail at $0 as needed.
A number of law enforcement leaders publicized cases where suspects were released without bail and quickly arrested again. Slough countered that crime rates have not notably increased.
Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for the End Money Bail campaign, said the zero bail order would end "at a time when the racial and economic injustice of wealth-based incarceration is crystal clear.”
---
The Associated Press contributed to this story