FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 27, 2020

Contact: Jonathan Underland, 856.842.6757

California Public Defenders Urge Voters to End the Unfair Money Bail System by Voting YES on Proposition 25

Sacramento, CA – Today the California Public Defenders Association announced its support for a yes vote on Proposition 25, the statewide ballot measure that would bring about the end of money bail and the predatory bail industry in California. The Public Defenders Association is a statewide organization of public defenders, private defense counsel, and investigators.

Jennifer Friedman, President of the California Public Defenders Association, released a statement highlighting the inequities of a money bail system that essentially makes it a crime to be poor: “Public Defenders know better than anyone how the bail industry has taken advantage of our clients and their families. Proposition 25 is an important step towards building a justice system that treats everyone equally under the law by ending money bail and eliminating the predatory bail bonds industry. The California Public Defenders Association supports Prop 25 because it will help eliminate one of the many ways the criminal justice system treats those with means so differently from those without.”

Ending money bail would make communities safer and our justice system more fair by determining who stays in jail based on each individual’s actual risk to public safety - instead of how much money they have in their bank account. Under the current system, the rich go free, even if they are accused of serious crimes, while the poor are forced to stay in jail even if they’ve been charged with a low-level offense. 

The California Public Defenders Association joins the League of Women Voters of California, the California Democratic Party, the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, and Californians for Safety and Justice in endorsing YES on Prop 25. 

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