A Kern County assistant district attorney, who is also running for district attorney, cast doubts about legislative efforts to reform the bail system, and said he has not idea how it will work.
Assembly Bill 42 would eliminate the current bail system and replace it with a hearing where a judge would determine if they could be released or held because they might be a threat to society.
Kern County Assistant District Attorney Scott Spielman, who has announced his intention to run for district attorney in 2018, is critical of the effort, which was authored by Assemblymen Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) and Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica).
“It’s proposing an entirely new system,” Spielman said during an appearance on Tuesday’s “The Ralph Bailey Show.” “I don’t know how it’s going to work.”
The proposed bill has received strong opposition from law enforcement groups and bail bonds companies. However, New Jersey enacted a similar law on Jan. 1 and four other states have eliminated private bail bonds. Other states are studying the bail issue.
Spielman said that he views the plan as very expensive, because it requires closer government monitoring of defendants.
“It’s going to create an entirely new bureaucracy that doesn’t exist, and, of course, it is going to be very expensive,” Speilman told Ralph Bailey.
On Tuesday the bill was passed in the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee with a 4-2 vote, and one abstention, and is now headed to the Appropriations Committee.
Listen to Spielman’s entire interview with Ralph Bailey:
