One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
LA County Will Try Bail Reform, But Critics Say It’s Going About It All Wrong
(Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for UNITAS)
Los Angeles County is moving ahead with a bail reform pilot program, despite warnings from criminal justice reform advocates that the program will perpetuate racial discrimination against defendants.
Critics of cash bail have long argued that it discriminates against poorer defendants, and can cause people to lose their jobs and get evicted. The pilot program introduces a set of tools that use algorithms to measure a defendant's risk to the community. Those deemed to be low-risk would be released without bail.
But JusticeLA, a coalition of advocacy groups, wrote a letter to the supervisors opposing the pilot, arguing that numerous experts have argued that risk assessment tools are inherently discriminatory.
GO DEEPER:
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
