Another major supporter behind a sweeping bill to end money bail in California has moved to oppose the effort after amendments unveiled last week granted greater power to judges to decide who should remain incarcerated while awaiting trial.
Three executive directors with the American Civil Liberties Union on Monday released a statement moving the organization’s stance from neutral to opposed, saying the state legislation falls short of its intended goals and would compromise the rights to fair court proceedings for criminal defendants.
“Unfortunately, this amended version of SB 10 is not the model for pretrial justice and racial equity that the ACLU of California envisioned, worked for, and remains determined to achieve,” read the statement from ACLU directors Abdi Soltani in Northern California, Hector Villagra in Southern California and Norma Chávez Peterson, representing San Diego and Imperial Counties.
The change in position puts the ACLU alongside other criminal justice reform supporters who are now actively working to kill the legislation — and on the same side as a bail industry that has worked to sink the bill from the beginning.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.
