By: Elgin Nelson, Staff
A new, controversial policy, officially dubbed the zero-bail system, eliminates the existing cash bail system for all but the most serious crimes committed in Los Angeles County. On Friday, September 29, twelve cities in L.A. County announced a lawsuit against the policy as an injunction to postpone the implementation of the new bail system.
Those cities include Arcadia, Artesia, Covina, Downey, Glendora, Industry, Lakewood, La Verne, Palmdale, Santa Fe Springs, Vernon, and Whitter, whose mayor expressed disdain toward the new policy.
“This zero-bail schedule is just another policy that leaves us less safe than we should be,” Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
The new bail schedule will apply to misdemeanors and specific non-violent felonies. Those who are arrested on suspicion of non-violent or non-serious offenses are cited or booked and released at a police or sheriff’s station with strict orders to appear in court for arraignment once charged with an actual crime, according to a news release from the L.A. County’s Superior Court office.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department stated that those arrested for sexual offenses, domestic violence, and offenses involving weapons will be exempt from the zero bail policy.
L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said the zero-bail system that took effect does not mean that criminals are off the hook in terms of punishment. “It’s really dangerous for us to conflate bail with accountability,” Mitchell said, adding, “Bail means I have the resources to pay my way out of jail.”
The legal proceeding from the twelve cities has yet to be announced.