Far-left groups partner with police to oppose Prop. 25, California’s bail reform bill
Amid this year’s protest cries of “defund the police,” you would expect Proposition 25 to be popular with California’s far-left social justice groups. But that’s not uniformly the case.
Prop. 25 would virtually abolish California’s cash bail system and the bail bond industry that profits from it, but some far-left groups say the reform doesn’t go far enough. They have sided with the bail bond industry and law enforcement groups to oppose Prop. 25.
“We advocate for prison abolition,” wrote the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, urging a no vote on Prop. 25. “This would have the opposite effect.”
Not true.
Prop. 25 would uphold a 2018 law that eliminated the cash bail system. The bail industry and police groups opposed it. So did some far-left groups, saying it didn’t do enough to end all incarceration. Fortunately, the California State Legislature embraced bail reform by approving Senate Bill 10, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed it.
SB 10 replaced cash bail with risk assessments to determine whether a person poses a danger to society. Those deemed low or medium risk could be released. Those considered high-risk, including anyone arrested for a sex crime or violent felony, would remain jailed.
Bail reform opponents collected enough signatures to force a referendum. If voters approve Prop. 25, SB 10 stands. If voters reject Prop. 25, the bail bond industry wins — with the help of lefty groups that normally despise those who profit from incarceration.
Some on the political left believe California needs better bail reform. Prop. 25, after all, does not completely dismantle the machinery of the criminal justice system. Human Rights Watch worries that Prop. 25 leaves too many decisions to the discretion of judges who would be aided by algorithms in sorting dangerous people out of the pretrial release pool.
In essence, California’s bail reform can’t be good because it’s not perfect.
The left’s attacks on Prop. 25 frustrate many progressive criminal justice reform activists.
“Law enforcement unions and the bail industry are spending millions of dollars on political campaigns to pass Proposition 20 — to repeal recently enacted justice reforms — and stop Prop. 25 which will end the predatory money bail industry in California,” wrote Jay Jordan and Sam Lewis in The Sacramento Bee. “Voters should not be fooled.”
Jordan and Lewis have serious credibility. Both men, formerly incarcerated, now serve as the executive directors of criminal justice reform organizations. They worked to pass SB 10 as part of a major wave of reforms that have swept Sacramento over the past decade.
Much to the chagrin of “tough on crime” law enforcement groups, these reforms have reduced the prison population, changed sentencing laws and led to the closure of entire prisons. There’s no evidence to suggest Prop. 25 would do anything other than reduce the number of people behind bars.
Prop. 25’s far-left opponents, however, believe they can pass a better bail reform. But in a legislative body where moderates hold sway, that’s nothing but a dim socialist daydream.
“Here’s the first time the legislature made a system-wide change in the criminal justice reform, and they took up the mantle of bail reform,” said John Bauters, director of government relations at Californians for Safety and Justice. “The notion that the legislature will come back after the voters have rejected a reform and do ... a similar reform in a so-called more progressive fashion is ludicrous.”
He’s right. If Prop. 25 fails, it will likely be the end of the conversation in Sacramento. The far-left has no juice in the Capitol, and why would moderates risk their necks supporting reform bills that police groups can overturn with support from their allies in the “defund the police” crowd?