Idaho becomes the latest state – in what is quickly becoming a long line of states – to reject the idea of the no-money bail system.
March 26, 2018
The Criminal Justice Commission, egged on by the State Court Administrator, attempted to run legislation to implement the New Jersey bail system in Idaho in this years legislative session.
In fact, legislation to change the Idaho State Constitution and legislation to expand government run pretrial supervision programs (Senate Bill 1300), if passed, would have turned the Gem State into a new version of the Garden State and their bail reform nightmare.
Adding insult to injury, the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission process was far from transparent. The process was closed to the public, and none of the records considered or presented to the commission were open to the public.
In addition, when Justice Charles Daniels of the New Mexico Supreme Court showed up to sell the Commission on the successes of the New Mexico system, that session was also closed to the public. Unfortunately, no one was there to challenge Daniels and the runaway crime problem that his New Mexico no-money bail system has caused.
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed at the legislature in Idaho. This is not the time to grow a whole new state bureaucracy to handle something that private industry is doing effectively for free.
Changing Idaho’s constitution to eliminate a core constitutional right, the right to bail, in favor of a system where the government can deny bail by labeling people as dangerous is not something the Idaho legislature was convinced is a good idea.
Idaho becomes the latest of states to reject the no-money bail and bail reform movement.
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