Professional response for this:As the communities where you live grapple with their own bail system reform, I wanted to share with you what’s going on here in Arizona. For several years we have been on the forefront of bail reform, but there is still a lot more that we can do. Arizona remains a state with high numbers of unconvicted people in its jails. Almost 80% of the people held in Arizona jails have not been convicted of the crimes for which they were arrested, but rather are awaiting trial. In 2016, the Arizona Supreme Court commissioned a Task Force to review Arizona’s cash bail system and issued a report in August of that year recommending the elimination of the cash bail system and rely, instead, on a risk based pre-trial release system. This would avoid individuals accused on minor crimes from prolonged stays in detention facilities due to their financial inability to pay a monetary bail.?lthough cash bail has not been abolished in Arizona, it is now much more difficult to impose money bail, especially bail that is not affordable, because Arizona statutes limit the imposition of a monetary condition that results in unnecessary pretrial incarceration solely because the defendant is unable to pay the amount ordered. As a result, judges have become more cognizant of the financial burden bail places on poorer defendants. There is still a growing movement, however, calling for the elimination of the cash bail system altogether. Only time will tell which direction we take on this issue in the future. Where are your communities at on the issue of cash bail?LawSocial ScienceCriminal JusticeCJA 336
