Two civil rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit against Riverside County in Southern California May 26, asserting its cash-based bail system is “unconscionable.”
The lawsuit was filed against Riverside County Superior Court, the county, the county sheriff’s office, and Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is a Republican candidate for governor.
Oakland-based Public Justice and Washington-based Civil Rights Corps, along with four public-interest law firms, allege the county’s system that requires cash bail for release is unconstitutional.
“Keeping people in jail simply because their families can’t afford to pay cash bail destabilizes their lives, separates them from their loved ones, and subjects them to dangerous and inhumane conditions, while doing nothing to protect public safety,” said Brian Hardingham, a senior attorney at Public Justice’s Debtors’ Prison Project.
Hardingham says Riverside’s system is “cruel to no purpose.”
“And courts that have considered identical practices elsewhere have consistently ruled they are unconstitutional,” he added. “It’s past time they’re halted in Riverside County.”
The lawsuit alleges that cash-based bail policies inflict severe and lasting harm on the people who are detained, their families, and their communities. The groups also say zero-bail policies decrease crime.
Many local jurisdictions in California and other states have passed regulations to overturn cash-bail systems in favor of zero-bail policies.
The change has stirred some controversy in Los Angeles County. The county’s court system elected to institute zero-bail policies in 2023 for several non-violent crimes.
A coalition of cities in the county asked the court to halt the implementation of the bail schedule, saying it failed to protect residents, but a judge later rejected the legal challenge.
Under the new Los Angeles County policy, law enforcement can choose to cite and release, book and release, or ask for a court review of an arrest, before bail is applied.
Most defendants facing nonviolent felony charges or misdemeanors are cited and released within 24 hours of arrest.
Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 15, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Sheriff Bianco responded to the lawsuit on May 29, saying zero bail causes higher crime.
“The pro-criminal lobby has tried for years to destroy the bail system, which has worked as intended since our country was founded,” Bianco said in a press release. “When [Gov.] Gavin Newsom implemented zero bail during COVID, it resulted in higher crime and more dangerous criminals roaming our communities.”
Voters overwhelmingly rejected prior zero-bail proposals, Bianco added.
The state Legislature tried to end the state’s cash bail system in 2018. Then, voters defeated a referendum in 2020, called Proposition 25. More than 56 percent of voters rejected the policy.
“I will never support a zero bail system that puts our residents at risk,” Bianco said. “If criminals don’t want to pay bail, I’d advise them to stop breaking the law.”
