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Jan 2020New Year, New Laws
A Brief Recap of Some of the New Laws Affecting Californians in 2020 California legislators were busy in 2019 writing hundreds of new laws that will take effect this month and in the future. This article will touch on a few major areas that will affect Californians in 2020 and beyond. Gun Regulations A host of new gun laws were put into effect including limiting...
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06
Dec 2019Bail Reform Faces Backlash in Greene County
Law Enforcement Officers Question Efficacy of Recent Bail Reform Legislation Bail reform legislation set to go into effect on January 1, 2020 is meeting reservation from the citizens of Greene County. According to a recent article by Hudson Valley 360, “County lawmakers and police officers are taking a stand against state-mandated bail reforms coming Jan 1.” One of the main concerns presented by the Greene...
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04
Nov 2019Voters Undecided About 2020 Bail Reform
29% of Voters Are Unsure of How They Will Vote on Bail Reform in 2020 According to a recent poll conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies for the Los Angeles Times, “29% of voters are undecided” whether they would vote to cancel the new bail reform initiative or keep it in place. The Los Angeles Times notes that California voters as a...
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01
Oct 2019Common Types of Bonds
A Brief Explanation of the Most Common Types of Bail Bonds There seems to be a lot of misconception about bail bonds in today’s media. Many people are unclear exactly how bail works and what options are available. Surety Bonds A surety bond is what people typically think of when they imagine posting bail. When posting the full amount of bail is not feasible, a...
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01
Sep 2019Houston Area Murder Renews Discussion About Bail Reform
As originally reported by Julian Gill of the Houston Chronicle, 22-year-old Alex Guajardo allegedly stabbed and killed his girlfriend after being released on personal bond for misdemeanor assault. Guajardo was originally arrested for assaulting his pregnant girlfriend. As reported by the Chronicle, Guajardo allegedly punched his girlfriend multiple times in the face. After his arrest for assault he was released on personal bond. Two days...
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29
Jul 2019Bail Industry Seeks Amendment to California Constitution
Constitutional Amendment Sought to Protect a Person’s Right to Bail In an effort to protect a defendant’s right to bail, the California bail industry is seeking an amendment to the constitution. According to a recent article published by Capital Public Radio, if successful the proposed amendment to the Constitution would be put on the November 2020 ballot right along with the now halted SB...
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21
Jun 2019Why Bail Works
Considering the Rights of a Defendant As bail reform considerations take place across the country, few people have talked about why bail was established to begin with and how eliminating bail without an adequate substitute could take away certain rights provided to a defendant. First, bail is not the enemy. Yes, there are issues in the criminal justice system. Undoubtedly, there is systemic racism and...
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17
May 2019Pre-trial Release and Algorithm-Based Judgments
Why Both Sides Agree that Bail Alternatives Don’t Solve the Problem Bail reform debates are raging across the country, but what is the alternative? Proposed algorithm-based judgments to determine pretrial release seem to exacerbate the problem. Bail reformers argue that bail discriminates against minorities and the disenfranchised, but many argue that the alternative – risk-based algorithms- only increase the likelihood for discrimination. Both sides seem...
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19
Apr 2019Case Study: Nevada Bail Legislation
A Look at Nevada’s Proposed Bail Reform Legislation Nevada is the latest state to struggle with how to reform a broken system. America’s criminal justice system is in dire need of an overhaul but legislators have yet to figure out the best way to go about it. In 2017, Nevada attempted to pass bail reform legislation but the attempt was unsuccessful. The current Nevada Legislature...
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29
Mar 2019Oversight Called for On Risk Assessment Systems
Why Many Are Questioning Whether Risk Assessment Programs Are Truly Unbiased If you have been following the bail reform debate you know that one suggested alternative to having a judge set bail is using a risk assessment program. These systems use a predictive algorithm to determine whether a person should be eligible for pretrial release. The pretrial risk assessment programs have come under scrutiny recently,...
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