Does LA Have Bail?

Last month, Los Angeles County Superior Courts deemed Los Angeles county a ‘zero bail’ area, allowing bail to be waived if the crime committed is low level and non-violent.

For the past several years, bail has been a recurring hot topic in California. So much so that ‘zero bail’ has been rejected since 2020, yet continuously brought up in conversation and courts.

The arguments for and against it? Well, those that are for it claim that low income defendants would miss work and important obligations if bail wasn’t zero – or less expensive. Those that are against it claim that putting such a policy in place would only bring defendants back out onto the street almost immediately. A hard conclusion to come to, some would say.

If we take a look at the data, we can easily see that making LA county a ‘zero bail’ area would likely follow in the steps of other like-minded folk. The crime rate would go up. But not taking action could result in defendants missing things like work and prescription medication refills, which has actually brought some lawsuits forward. The argument therein lies, should low crimes be held with high bail even though it could be detrimental to the defendants life.

Zero Bail in LA

Thankfully, Judge Riff made some clarifying statements in May 2023, bringing the courts to attention. The #1 thought process here was: Why enforce high money bail schedules with poor people? Keeping them behind bars due to their poverty is a clear violation and should not be done, point blank.

Instead, Riff suggested increasing bail amounts depending on crime and failure to appear in court.

As of now, the new policy went into effect last month and will stay in place for 60 days, at least. This will allow LA to come up with a more definitive plan for enforcement around the zero bail system. It’s likely that pre-trial supervision or some type of monitoring will be put in the place of cash bail.

What happens if crime starts to rise after implementation?

Some suspect that the courts will fight back on the policy to get it reversed. Even bail business consultants are not on board, as they want bail companies to stay in business. So the appeal or challenge may be set in motion shortly to get ‘zero bail’ reversed. But for now, it’s sticking around for a few more weeks – and only time will tell what happens next.

Will the experiment be dropped and the courts move onto other important matters? Or will this important matter stick around for weeks, months, even years of contemplation?

Discreet honesty…

The LA County residents have voted on ‘zero bail’ with full rejection. Even still, lawmakers and judges are pushing to make it a rule.

On July 5, 2023, we’ll know where the LA county bail system is headed, as legal documentation and reports will be due.

If you have any questions or concerts on LA County’s ‘zero bail’ issue, please feel free to reach out to our professionals at Synergy Bail Bonds. We’re more than happy to assist in answering them, and we’ll give you updates on what’s going on if we have any. Plus, more news is available on our site, which you can visit here.  

Why choose Synergy Bail Bonds? Because we help everyone! We’ll do everything in our power to change our clients’ lives by giving them their freedom back. Our services are professional, informative, loyal, and dedicated, so your best interests will definitely be served with us on your team.