California Attorney General Kamala Harris has sought permission from a federal judge to intervene in a challenge to San Francisco’s bail system. The Attorney General’s office will represent the state defending the current bail system, which requires defendants to be arraigned within 48 hours 
of their arrest. The law also requires that the bail amount is reasonable given the severity of the crime and other factors including the defendant’s criminal history and threat to society. The current bail system also allows a defendant to have a bail review hearing where a judge must take under consideration extenuating circumstances. At these hearings a judge will often evaluate the defendant’s flight risk, previous criminal charges and any other factors that could impact their release.
Attorney General Harris has previously represented the State against a similar suit in Sacramento. In this case the federal judge denied relief to the plaintiff stating that the “plaintiff ha(d) not shown that the bail system employed in Sacramento is unconstitutional.” Welchen v. Harris et al.
Given the outcome of the Sacramento case, it is likely that the current case will meet the same outcome. Originally, Ms. Harris was dismissed from the case as a defendant but was allowed to rejoin since the San Francisco City Attorney refused to defend the suit.