California Supreme Court Addresses Affordability of Money Bail

Regular readers of this blog know that bail reform has been a hot topic in criminal law.  Jessie has posted about the Criminal Justice Innovation Lab’s ongoing collaborations with several North Carolina jurisdictions in efforts to evaluate and improve bail practices, and she also has noted recent litigation over the constitutionality of the Alamance County bail system.  Late last month, the Supreme Court of California ruled that money bail, when used, must be set at an amount an arrestee can reasonably afford unless there is clear and convincing evidence that no nonfinancial condition of release will reasonably protect victim or public safety or assure the arrestee’s appearance in court.  This post takes a closer look at the opinion – In re Humphrey, No. S247278, 2021 WL 1134487 (Cal. Mar. 25, 2021). Arrest & Bail Setting Kenneth Humphrey was arrested on May 23, 2017 for robbery and burglary, among other offenses, based on an incident where Humphrey allegedly threatened and stole money from a man who lived in the same senior home as Humphrey.  Humphrey previously had been convicted of robbery and attempted robbery, but had not been arrested in the preceding 14 years and had not been convicted of a serious felony since 1992.  The trial court set bail at $600,000 in accordance with a county bail schedule, an amount that was unaffordable for Humphrey who was unemployed and had limited financial means.  Thereafter Humphrey moved for a formal bail hearing where the court reduced bail to $350,000 because of Humphrey’s [...]