San Francisco prosecutors will no longer seek cash bail

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin issued a new policy to his prosecutors Wednesday, saying they will no longer ask for cash bail in lieu of pretrial detention.

"From this point forward, pretrial detention will be based on public safety, not on wealth," Boudin said in a press statement.

Boudin's office cited statistics that U.S. taxpayers spend $38 million per day to incarcerate defendants awaiting trial. The statement said the inability to pay cash in order to stay out of jail increases a defendant's likelihood of losing their job or housing. Boudin's statement also said requiring defendants to pay cash bail may increase the likelihood they would be charged with a felony in the future.

The decision follows Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner doing away with cash bail in 2018, the same year California legislators passed a bill banning the practice statewide, making it the first state to do so. Bail bond businesses and many defense attorneys have opposed the bill, AB10. A November 2020 referendum will allow voters to make the final decision.

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has also called for cash bail to be eliminated.

Former San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón rolled out an "algorithmic risk assessment tool" in coordination with the Superior Court in 2016 that his office said would neutrally assess whether a defendant needed to be incarcerated prior to trial. Boudin's office said that tool has "helped prosecutors make more equitable decisions concerning pretrial individuals."

-- Carter Stoddard