California lawmakers on Tuesday passed a landmark bill to overhaul the state's money bail system, replacing it with one that grants judges greater power to decide who should remain incarcerated ahead of trial.
The two-year effort puts the state at the forefront of a national push to change the way courts assign bail to defendants as a condition of their release from jail. But the historic victory has been bittersweet for lawmakers, as opponents _ including some of its most ardent former supporters _ argued the final version of the legislation could lead to more people behind bars.
Senate Bill 10 would virtually eliminate the payment of money as a condition of release. Under last-minute changes, judges would have greater power to decide which people are a danger to the community and should be held without any possibility of release in a practice known as "preventive detention."
The proposal moved out of the chamber with a 26-12 vote and now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown, who last year pledged to work with lawmakers and the state's top Supreme Court justice to pass the legislation.
On the Senate floor, Republicans argued the legislation was rushed through the process after major last-minute changes unveiled last week.
GOP state Sen. Jim Nielsen contended it was passed "in the dark of night." He said the provisions would automatically grant release to many people and warned senators would be reading the sad stories of the people they harm.
State Sen. Ted Gaines, a Republican, said it was likely to face successful constitutional challenges in court, and pointed to the financial burden faced by counties in New Jersey after bail reform efforts in that state.
"It is not a template California should follow," he said.
But supporters argued the bill was the first step to overhaul a predatory system that hurts poor defendants and had taken into consideration input from law enforcement, as well as recommendations from a judicial task force assembled by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
Democratic state Sen. Holly Mitchell pointed to provisions that would require the courts to collect and report incarceration rates and undergo an independent review of the legislation's effect on the criminal justice system in 2023.
"I appreciate that the courts will have to provide data," she said.
Democratic state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, who co-authored the bill, teared up as he thanked staffers and lawmakers who worked to make it happen, saying the Legislature would not come this close to addressing the issue again for a decade.
"The fundamental change is that we are treating people as people," Hertzberg said.
