Crime

Local Lawmakers Pushing for Bail Reform to “Fix Broken System”

Published

9 years ago

July 8, 2016

Experts, advocates and lawmakers gathered on Tuesday to discuss changes to California’s bail system, which often requires defendants to pay a fee upfront in order to be released while their case is pending.

“In my view, the current system is broken,” said Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), who led the discussion at the Elihu Harris State Building in Oakland.

“The purpose of bail was to provide a path for an individual to go back to their life while they await trial with the guarantee they would return for their court date. It’s not happening that way today,” he said.

Bonta said that now, those who have the money can be released pretrial no matter how dangerous they may be, while those who can’t afford to pay bail may sit in jail for something as minor as a traffic ticket.

“The majority of people in California jails are unsentenced. Ninety percent of people retained pretrial are there because they cannot make bail,” said panelist Zachary Norris, executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

Panelists attributed this to California’s cash bail system, which they said evaluates defendants on their ability to pay, rather than the danger they pose to society or whether they are willing appear at court.

Bonta and other speakers stressed how this can cause poor people to lose their jobs or housing if they cannot pay for their release, and that the inability to post bail disproportionately affects communities of color.

Some panelists suggested shifting away from a cash bail system and towards free trial services and “risk-assessments,” through which officials use data and evidence to determine whether a person should be released when making decisions about pretrial populations.

According to panelist and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, nearly 29 other jurisdictions have developed risk-assessment models.

Also on the panel was Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland), who previously presented bail reform legislation that passed the Senate but died in the Assembly.

Hancock emphasized that over a billion dollars have been invested in the state’s jail system in the last six years, and advocated for reinvesting the money that could be saved by reforming the bail system into education and other rehabilitation programs.

“Money bail is an ineffective way to promote public safety. The amount of money someone has bears no relation to the risk they pose,” Norris said. “Bail and pretrial is really the widest part of the funnel, and if we want to take on mass incarceration this is where we should start.”

Bonta plans to introduce this legislation at the start of the next session in December.

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Activism

Group Takes First Steps to Recall District Attorney Diana Becton

The group, called “Recall Diana Becton,” says they have lost faith in her prosecution decisions and her lack of transparency. On their social media post, they say: “We the victims of crime, their families, local business owners and employees, as well as residents of Contra Costa County, have reached our limit and are initiating the recall of District Attorney Diana Becton,” the notice states. “We are increasingly concerned about the persistent cycle of unaddressed criminal activity. We are frustrated by her continuous empty promises to victims and their families that justice will prevail while she permits criminals to roam free.” Becton, 73, is a former judge who was appointed district attorney in 2017 by the Board of Supervisors and then won election in 2018 and again in 2022.

Published

4 days ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

Diana Becton has served at the Contra Costa County District Attorney since 2017. Richmond Standard photo.

By Post Staff

After gathering more than 100 verified signatures, a group led by crime victims delivered a ‘notice of intent’ to the offices of Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton seeking her recall.

The group, called “Recall Diana Becton,” says they have lost faith in her prosecution decisions and her lack of transparency.

On their social media post, they say:

“We the victims of crime, their families, local business owners and employees, as well as residents of Contra Costa County, have reached our limit and are initiating the recall of District Attorney Diana Becton,” the notice states.

“We are increasingly concerned about the persistent cycle of unaddressed criminal activity. We are frustrated by her continuous empty promises to victims and their families that justice will prevail while she permits criminals to roam free.”

Becton, 73, is a former judge who was appointed district attorney in 2017 by the Board of Supervisors and then won election in 2018 and again in 2022.

Becton has seven days to respond. According to the East Bay Times, her office spokesperson said her “answer will be her public comment.”

After Becton responds, according to the Contra Costa County Elections Office, Recall Diana Becton must then finalize the petition language and gather signatures of a minimum of 10% of registered voters (72,000) in 160 days before it can go on the ballot for election.

She is the third Bay Area district attorney whose constituents wanted them removed from office. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was removed from office in 2021 and last year, Pamela Price lost her position in a recall election.

Of the top 10 proponents of Becton’s recall, three are the families of Alexis Gabe, Thomas Arellano, and Damond Lazenby Jr.

In each of those cases, the families say Becton failed to pursue prosecution, allowed a plea deal instead of a trial in a slaying and questioned the coroner’s report in a fatal car crash.

Some political science experts suggest that, in the Bay Area there may be a bit of copycat syndrome going on.

In many states, recalls are not permitted at all, but in California, not only are they permitted but the ability to put one into motion is easy.

“Only 10% of registered voters in a district are needed just to start the process of getting the effort onto the ballot,” Garrick Percival, a political science professor told the East Bay Times. “It makes it easy to make the attempt.”

But according to their website, the Recall Diana Becton group express their loss of faith in the prosecutor.

“Her lack of transparency regarding crime in this county, and her attempts to keep her offenders out of jail have left us disheartened,” the recall group wrote.

Petitioners say they are acting not just for themselves but other crime victims “who feel ignored, exasperated and hopeless in their pursuit of justice for themselves or their loved ones.”

KRON TV, The East Bay Times, and Wikipedia are the sources for this report.