Los Angeles County eliminates cash bail

After being sworn into office, Los Angeles County’s new Attorney General George Gascón announced sweeping plans for criminal justice reform.

One of his first plans: eliminating cash bail.

Gascon has taken the first step to eliminate cash bail for certain minor offenses. He said his office will also roll out a plan to eliminate all bail in the nation’s most populous county beginning January 1, 2021.

“The money bail system is as unsafe as it is unjust,” Gascón said. “The rich can be dangerous while the poor impose zero threat to society.” The amount of money a person has in their bank account does not determine the danger they pose to their community, he added.

Criminal justice reform advocates have longed pushed for the elimination arguing cash bail systems have unfair consequences on the people with low income.

“Cash bail system criminalizes poverty, as people who are unable to afford bail are detained while they await trial for weeks or even months,” according to the progressive advocacy organization Center for American Progress.

Gascón also said his office of prosecutors will no longer be seeking the death penalty in any cases brought to his office. Instead, he pledged commitment to resentencing those currently on death row to life in prison.

“The death penalty does not make us safer,” Gascón said. “It’s racist, morally untenable, irreversible, and expensive. And today, it’s off the table.”