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SACRAMENTO – Yesterday, the California Secretary of State confirmed that a bail-bond-industry-funded referendum campaign asking voters to overturn Senate Bill 10, the recent legislation that would eliminate the bail bond industry in California, has qualified to be on the November 2020 ballot.
In response, the following statement can be jointly attributed to the three executive directors of the ACLU of California affiliates: Abdi Soltani (Northern California), Hector Villagra (Southern California), and Norma Chávez Peterson (San Diego & Imperial Counties):
Everyone deserves equal justice and equal protection under the law. But there is no denying that the bail industry hurts California families. Its existence is antithetical to our values of justice, fairness, and racial equity. By charging people nonrefundable fees for pretrial release, the bail industry has made billions of dollars off the backs of individuals and families in dire circumstances, especially people most affected by racial and economic inequities in our society and the criminal justice system. We must reject the wealth-based, two-tiered system of justice that the bail industry seeks to preserve.
