Orange County, CA – An Orange County Superior Court judge has enjoined Riverside County, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Chad Bianco, stopping them from jailing people arrested on lower-level charges before they have a court hearing simply because they cannot pay money bail.

“I am happy that because of this case, fewer people will go through what I went through,” said plaintiff Violet Graham, who was jailed because they could not afford cash bail and denied the use of a wheelchair while in jail, only to ultimately be released without charge. “I hope it is just the beginning of necessary reforms in Riverside County that will change real lives.”

After the plaintiffs filed this case seeking to end the practice of imposing unconstitutional pre-arraignment money bail in Riverside County, the Riverside County Superior Court issued an updated bail schedule significantly reducing the number of charges automatically subject to money bail following a warrantless arrest in the county. A “bail schedule” sets the amount of money an arrested person is required to pay to be released from jail based on the offense the police accuse the person of committing, before any lawyer or judge has reviewed the case. Although Riverside’s policy change lessened the amount of unconstitutional wealth-based detention in the county and was an acknowledgement that money bail fails to protect public safety or ensure appearance in court, its new bail schedule continues to arbitrarily mandate unconstitutional cash bail for many other low-level charges. That’s why plaintiffs requested, and the Court has now granted, an emergency order called a “preliminary injunction” to stop the jailing of individuals arrested on 19 lower-level felonies that remain subject to money bail under the County’s bail schedule prior to their arraignments.

Read the full article on Court Orders Riverside County to End Unconstitutional Wealth-Based Detention for Individuals Arrested for Lower-Level Charges