Beyond Cash Bail: Public Health, Risk Assessment, and California Senate Bill 10

Read a new publication from SPG in the Journal of Science Policy & Governance!

Executive Summary

The detrimental effects of incarceration on physical and mental health are widely acknowledged. However, 76% of the United States jail population is awaiting trial without having been convicted of a crime (Sawyer and Wagner 2020). This is driven by the monetary bail system, which the state of California moved to abolish by passing the 2018 California Money Bail Reform Act (Senate Bill 10, hereafter SB 10). SB 10 proposes the use of algorithmically driven risk assessment tools to determine pretrial release. However, actuarial risk assessments are not calibrated to California’s diverse demography and are insufficient to determine which defendants pose flight or public safety risks. SB 10 is predicted to perpetuate similar socioeconomic and racial disparities as the current system, while failing to decrease pretrial detention. We recommend opposing SB 10 in favor of pretrial release for most misdemeanor and nonviolent defendants. The funding currently allocated for pretrial detainment should be redirected toward evidence-based and restorative pretrial supervision practices through the enactment of new bail-reform legislation by the state of California. Increasing the use of diversion programs, which redirect defendants to the appropriate mental health or substance abuse programs, also presents opportunities to restore treatment to the jurisdiction of public health rather than criminal justice. Transitioning from a reliance on pretrial detention to pretrial services will mitigate the collateral effects of incarceration while improving public health, public safety, and substantially reducing the cost of incarceration.