California’s Senate Bill No 10 is a legislation that intends to integrate Pretrial Assessment Services aimed at informing judges of the potential dangers the defendant poses to the public or the defendant’s probability of commit crime when released prior to trial and, subsequently, return to court. Governor Jerry Brown signed SB No. 10 on August 28, 2018, and will be effective as from October 2019 (National Center for State Courts, 2019). There are different elements of the legislation. Under SB No. 10, judges, in consultation with pretrial assessment services officers, make a rational decision on whether defendants will be of high risk to the society. It involves an evaluation of the dangers that the defendant may be to the public. It is an initiative that might ends money bails. It will end the conventional approach in which judges determine the amount of bails that defendants pay. Another critical aspect is that the risk, not money will be the basis of determining detention of defendants. There will be no cash bails and bonds that are a necessity in other states.
From my point of view of the new law, I support it because the bill gives public safety the priority. Also, the law is fair because it says that nonviolent suspects are supposed to be released within 12 hours, while suspects with severe violent cases will remain in jail awaiting for trial. Additionally, I feel that the law will affect the jail population in the adult California jail system because California has always recorded a high number of violent arrest. Therefore, the senate bill no ten will affect all the 58 superior courts in California. Further, the Judiciary oversees the development of the rules of court and reports to the Governor and legislature on a bi-yearly basis; thus, the initial release will be due on October 2021.
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References
National Center for State Courts. (2019). Bail Reform: A Practical Guide Based on Research and Experience. Retrieved from https://www.ncsc.org/~/media/Files/PDF/Topics/Fines%20and%20Fees/format%20revisions/Bail%20reform%20guide%203%2012%201.ashx
