End of the Road for Ankle-Monitoring Extortion Case
A private-ankle monitoring company did not extort daily fees from inmates by threatening them with re-arrest for nonpayment, a federal judge ruled Friday.
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Fight Over St. Louis Bail System Hits Eighth Circuit
A lawyer for four people who claim they were held in a debtors’ jail in St. Louis argued before an Eighth Circuit panel Thursday that a recent change in bail procedures does not make their case moot.
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Tennessee County Defends Bail System at Sixth Circuit
A Tennessee county argued Tuesday before the Sixth Circuit to overturn an injunction requiring it to provide bail hearings for indigent defendants who would otherwise be unable to secure their release from jail after being arrested.
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Houston Settlement Equalizes Pretrial Treatment of Rich and Poor
A federal judge on Thursday approved a settlement mandating most misdemeanor arrestees in Houston be released promptly from jail without paying bail, brushing off concerns of prosecutors and police that it will endanger public safety.
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New San Francisco DA’s Win Sets Up Tension With Police
San Francisco’s new district attorney is the latest in a string of big-city chief prosecutors to win the office by promising sweeping reforms and a shift away from the traditional law and order punitive approach to criminal justice issues.
Read moreHouston Bail Reform Deal Inches Closer to Final Approval
A proposed settlement to end cash bail for most misdemeanor arrestees in Houston emerged seemingly unscathed from a fairness hearing Monday, despite concerns from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that it will give a free pass to undocumented immigrants.
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Harris Vows to End Death Penalty, Money Bail as President
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris took aim Monday at the criminal justice system with her latest campaign plank, proposing to eliminate cash bail, private prisons and the death penalty.
Read moreHouston DA Doubles Down on Support for Bail Reform
The Houston area’s top prosecutor sent her chief of staff to meet with local NAACP officials Thursday to assure them she supports bail reforms to keep poor misdemeanor arrestees out of jail, but she has concerns with a proposed settlement she says will endanger domestic violence victims.
Read moreSan Francisco Reaches Settlement on Money Bail System
The city of San Francisco ended its stalemate Friday with pretrial detainees fighting the money bail system in the city.
Read moreStalemate in Bid to Replace Money Bail Program in San Francisco
It’s been five months since U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers declared San Francisco’s bail schedule unconstitutional. But with talks on a replacement plan between the sheriff and attorneys representing pretrial detainees grinding to a halt, she’s fed up and willing to let political pressure force the local court and law enforcement to act.
Read moreJudicial Council OKs $68M for Pretrial-Release Pilot Program
The Judicial Council of California approved $68 million Friday to fund pilot projects in 16 trial courts aimed at releasing more arrestees from jail while they await trial.
Read moreBail Industry Mounts Two-Pronged Attack to Revive Money Bail in California
Facing an existential threat to their industry, bail agents are fighting back with a double-edged attack on a law that abolishes bail in California.
Read moreBail for Richer and Poorer
The Second Circuit ruled that a defendant’s bail application was property denied, after he offered to pay for private armed security guards to supervise his home confinement, because the Bail Reform Act does not permit a system in which “defendants of lesser means are detained pending trial while wealthy defendants are released to self-funded private jail.”
Read moreKilling of Missouri Woman Raises Concerns About Bail Reform
Samuel Scott spent five days in the St. Louis city jail on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge claiming he hit his wife, Marcia Johnson. Days after a nonprofit posted his bail, she was dead.
Read moreACLU Slams Detroit Bail System as Unfair to Poor
The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal class action Sunday against six judges and the sheriff in Detroit, claiming the state’s largest district court unconstitutionally ignores a defendant’s ability to pay bail before they are detained.
Read moreBail-Reform, Speedy Trial Tackled in 2020 NY Budget
Adopting a number of criminal-justice reforms with the 2020 budget, New York paved the way this weekend for the state to nix cash bail in the vast majority of cases.
Read moreJudge Plans to Toss Money Bail System in San Francisco
In an Oakland courtroom Thursday, a federal judge announced her plan to toss out the age-old practice of money bail for the City and County of San Francisco, saying it unfairly keeps impoverished arrestees behind bars.
Read moreClass Status Denied in Suit Over Chicago-Area Bail Policy
A federal judge declined Wednesday to certify a class of pretrial detainees challenging the Cook County sheriff’s policy delaying the release of jail detainees, pending his personal review, even though they have already posted bail.
Read moreTenth Circuit Tosses New Mexico Bail Reform Challenge
The 10th Circuit upheld New Mexico’s bail reform efforts Monday, finding the rules that allow the state to either bar bail before arraignment or let more people go with no bail at all are constitutional.
Read moreHouston Bondsmen Fight to Restore Bail for Misdemeanors
A group of bail bond companies claim Harris County criminal court judges and the Harris County sheriff unconstitutionally changed bond requirements for individuals arrested on misdemeanor charges, threatening their business.
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