In the final days of his governorship Jerry Brown of California signed into law a bill that went by the innocuous title of “SB10”. That is, Senate Bill 10. When it first came before the California legislature SB10 was hailed as the answer to everything that ails the American bail system. In one fell swoop unjust incarcerations would be eliminated, poverty would be decriminalized, those fine upstanding B&E guys who work Potrero Hill in San Franc...

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Among the 80 or so democrats who have announced they’re running for president is California Senator Kamala Harris. Sen. Harris has made a lot of noise since announcing her candidacy about her deep seeded desire to do away with what she refers to as the “evil cash bail system”. As proof she touts her plan (which went nowhere) to offer states $10 million in federal grant money if they would do away with cash bail. But while she’s apparently learn...

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Few people would argue with the notion that the bail system in America is flawed and that some common sense reforms are long overdue. However, in recent years as momentum to develop and institute those reforms has gathered steam a more extreme group has effectively hijacked the reform movement.

To the leaders of this group nothing short of the total elimination of cash bail and the bail bonds system will do. The problem is, the proponents of...

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