Judge prohibits pre-arraignment bail in LA County

Los Angeles Judge Lawrence P. Riff signed an order Tuesday which prohibits the city and county from enforcing the 2022 bail schedule for infractions and misdemeanors, and reinstates the zero-dollar COVID emergency bail schedule.

Riff’s injunction also orders the plaintiffs, and defendants — the city and county of Los Angeles — to devise a plan for the pre-arraignment release of arrestees that addresses public safety and appearances at future proceedings. It goes into effect May 24.

The bail schedule is set by the Superior Court and Riff did not indicate he had consulted other judges.

“Plaintiffs have made a strong showing that secured money bail, including the bail schedules at issue here, are not reasonably designed, much less narrowly tailored, to achieve the governmental interests at stake — namely, reduction in arrestees” and failures to appear, Riff wrote.

“The defendants have offered no evidence, via departmental or third-party witnesses, departmental data, expert testimony, academic studies, or otherwise, to controvert any of plaintiffs’ evidence,” Riff continued.

The pre-arraignment bail schedule that Riff enjoined assigns dollar amounts of bail based on the crime charged. Depending on the offense, arrestees who are able to post bail go free while those without enough money stay in jail for a few days until they are brought before a judge for a bail determination hearing.

Tuesday’s order follows weeks of testimony in which law enforcement officials and experts advocating changes in bail laws discussed the effects of pre-arraignment and zero-dollar bail on arrestees and the community. Much of the plaintiffs’ expert testimony emphasized that pre-arraignment incarceration leads to more crime and is not conducive to public safety. Defendants’ experts testified they were either unable to pull crime data that Riff sought, or that crime rates decreased when bail was slashed to zero during the COVID emergency.

The ruling came hours after Riff denied without prejudice an ex parte application filed by a crime victims advocacy group seeking to intervene as defendants. Crime Survivors Inc. is the first victims’ advocacy group to step forward.

“We’re very pleased that this ruling recognizes that money bail is harmful for public safety, violates the constitution and imposes profound harms on Angelenos because they can’t make an arbitrary payment,” plaintiffs’ attorney Salil H. Dudani said by telephone.

Attorneys from Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and legal nonprofits Public Justice and Civil Rights Corps sued in November to put an end to the incarceration of people unable to post bail before they are arraigned. They filed the putative class action on behalf of six Los Angeles residents who were arrested within five days of the filing date and remained in jail because they were unable to pay the amount required under the bail schedule to secure their release.

The lead plaintiff said in the lawsuit he lives in a pickup truck with his girlfriend and earns about $500 per week working with a temporary staffing agency. He was held on $20,000 bail for a vandalism charge, the lawsuit states. Three of the named plaintiffs were released on their own recognizance upon arraignment; one was released without any charges being filed; bail was reduced for another plaintiff; one case saw an increase in the bail amount, the lawsuit said. Phillip Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles et al., 22STCP04044 (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed Nov. 14, 2022).