In re Humphrey – Court’s Ruling Changes Approach to Bail in California
On January 25, 2018 the court of appeal for the first appellate district decided In re Humphrey, significantly affecting the approach to bail in criminal cases. There are many efforts already underway to reform the California bail system, and this case furthers that trend. The case begins:
“Nearly forty years ago, during an earlier incarnation, the present Governor of this state declared in his State of the State Address that it was necessary for the Legislature to reform the bail system, which he said constituted an unfair “tax on poor people in California. Thousands and thousands of people languish in the jails of this state even though they have been convicted of no crime. Their only crime is that they cannot make the bail that our present law requires.” Proposing that California move closer to the federal system, the Governor urged that we find “a way that more people who have not been found guilty and who can meet the proper standards can be put on a bail system that is as just and as fair as we can make it.” (Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., State of the State Address, Jan. 16, 1979.) The Legislature did not respond.”
In this case, Mr. Humphrey was held on $650,000 bail in San Francisco, an amount he could never pay. He filed a a writ of habeas corpus, challenging his pre-trial detention as unconstitutional under the 14th amendment. He argued, just as the governor did 40 yers ago, that setting bail in an amount one can never pay is effectively a pretrial detention order for poor people. The court agreed, ordering Mr. Humphrey was entitled to a new bail hearing “at which the court inquires into and determines his ability to pay, considers nonmonetary alternatives to money bail, and, if it determines petitioner is unable to afford the amount of bail the court finds necessary, follows the procedures and makes the findings necessary for a valid order of detention.”
The full decision is available to read here: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A152056.PDF