New York City did away with cash bail and this did not seem to go well. At the moment, this is not the time to have a conversation about making similar decisions in other states. California seems bound and determined to repeat the mistake anyway. They are preparing to head to the polls and do away with cash bail as we speak.
This does not mean that all trials become a thing of the past. However, states like California could decide to start releasing more and more people on their own recognizance. If they are determined not to be a threat to society, they are going to be trusted to show up for their own trial. This begs one major question that needs to be answered.
Who is going to be responsible for determining which California criminals are filed into the safe pile? Evidently, they are going to leave this process up to a computer algorithm. NBC News has more. “The movement to eradicate bail from America’s justice system will face a crucial test Nov. 3, when California voters will decide whether to end the centuries-old practice of trading money for freedom and replace it with algorithms that try to predict whether defendants deserve to be released before trial,” their report reads.
Proposition 25 is the name of the measure and if it passes? California will become the newest state that relies on “risk assessment tools” to decide who needs to be imprisoned and who can be released on their own recognizance. The objective is a simple one: keeping the poor out of debt to bail bondsmen who do not have their best interests at heart.
“A victory on the referendum would come at a key moment for reform advocates, who are trying to harness public demands for change following the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police,” concludes the NBC News report. That’s how the liberals are working things now. They invoke George Floyd’s name at every turn and they do not care how silly it looks.
In these circles, Floyd’s name has to be invoked on a constant basis. That’s how they galvanize their base into action. The California legal system needs to be answering questions about their algorithm and letting people behind the curtain. How many suspects have to be released before the cash bail issue is resolved for good?
Take the case of Darrius “Blizz Meecho” Sutton, for instance. Attempted murder charges were not enough to keep him behind bars. As soon as he was back on the streets, more mayhem ensued. Three more drive-by shootings took place and a rival gang member was murdered in broad daylight.
NBC News is trying their best to phrase things in a way that makes their cause look justified. Bail was described as “trading money for freedom”, as if this were a totally new point of view. We hate to break it to them but this is exactly what cash bail is. It’s not a game-changer to refer to it this way. If the criminals do not want to remain in debt to bail bondsmen, they need to show up for trial.
It’s really that simple but people love to make this stuff seem more complicated than it truly is. We promise that we are going to stop beating the dead horse soon enough but this story is making us wonder if we are going to have to leave the country entirely. Common sense just isn’t as common as it used to be these days.
The state of California is already experiencing these issues, as residents depart from the state in droves. Elected officials are not listening to what they are being told by the people who are being victimized by their decisions. The liberal states love to act like their finger is on the pulse of the people. In reality, their finger is typically jammed square up their….never mind!