Five months ago, 29 cities surrounding Los Angeles filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County. The cities were up in arms about a newly implemented zero-bail policy. This policy makes it easy for criminals to be released back on the streets, sometimes, within 24 hours.
With Reckless Abandon
Los Angeles County implemented a zero-bail policy on October 1, 2023. The cities involved in the suit stated that the policy fails to consider the protection of the public, the safety of the victim, the seriousness of the offense charged, the previous criminal record of the defendant, and the odds of his or her appearing at the court hearing.
These are serious allegations that the Left doesn’t seem to understand. Instead, they issue bogus claims about bail being unnecessary. Protection of the public, however, must be paramount. To err on the side of those whose rights are more important -- the transgressor or the public at large -- the latter has to be favored.
The safety of victims, moreover, cannot be underscored. Sometimes assailants return to further plague victims, which should never happen in a civilized society.
Protection Matters
Police cannot be everywhere, day and night and so realistically only a small fraction of crimes are ever brought to trial. Someone with a criminal record, say five offenses, might well have committed 25 offenses, most of which go undetected and unindicted. As such, a defendant’s previous criminal record is important.
The seriousness of the charges needs to have a great bearing on whether or not bail is granted. Throughout society, if someone brandishes a weapon, strikes, or is otherwise violent to someone else, the assailant must not be set free, regardless of bail policies.
The probability of an assailant’s appearance at a trial or hearing is troubling. Many jurisdictions know that bail or no bail a distinct percentage of those turned back on the streets do not show up for their court date. And, being back on the streets and having not been apprehended for their failure to appear in court might lead to assailants feeling emboldened to commit more crimes.
Bails Set High Enough?
The policy in Los Angeles County dictates that cash bail is required for those charged with assault, stalking, violation of a protective order, domestic battery, sex with a minor, striking a police officer, or engaging in human trafficking, also known as sexual slavery.
In Los Angeles County and other Democrat-run locales, bail for serious crimes often is not sufficiently high. To make matters worse for L.A. County, the lawsuit brought by the 29 surrounding towns was shot down 10 weeks later.
Following the original announcement of the lawsuit by the 29 cities, a spokesperson for a local Left-wing group said that the zero-bail policy is safe and effective, and there's no evidence that it leads to further crime. Ridiculous, but would that claim matter, even if that happened to be true?
Tremors That Needn’t Occur
Suppose you commit a crime on my property, and under a zero-bail policy, the city jail cannot hold you. How safe do I feel knowing that you're back on the streets? How do I know you won't return and do worse? As one sheriff said, "Crime victims who see offenders immediately released from custody are left with little confidence in the criminal justice system.”
Zero-bail policy advocates counter with pablum. They’ll spout go-to phrases such as “violent crime and property crime has been dropping.” Or, it has stayed unchanged in comparison to the years before the policy was in place. These responses are insufficient and are not comforting.
Having crime statistics remain unchanged, with bail or no bail policies, is a useless argument, especially if crime is shockingly high. The aim of all urban areas, counties, and surrounding cities should be to dramatically reduce crime and vigorously increase public confidence in law enforcement.
Unconcerned and Gated Wokesters
What do the wokesters who insist on no bail smoke these days? What do they miss when it comes to public safety and public confidence in law enforcement? What will it take for them to see the light -- being victimized themselves? Unfortunately, too often, that is the case.
As one deputy district attorney noted, who wouldn’t want a bail policy that is sound, just, and fair for everybody? Such a policy is best enacted in collaboration with city governments and their residents, as well as victim groups and law enforcement agencies responsible for public safety.
If there's an iota of a chance that police officers, town residents, and crime victims will be adversely affected when perpetrators arrested for crimes are quickly released, then any type of zero-bail policy has to be summarily chucked.