Proposition 25, officially the Referendum to Overturn a 2018 Law That Replaced Money Bail System with A System Based on Public Safety Risk, is a
California ballot proposition
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
that appeared on the ballot for
the general election on November 3, 2020. The "no" side prevailed, resulting in retention of the system of
cash bail in the state.
The proposition was a veto-referendum that was placed on the ballot by the American Bail Coalition.
Placed on the ballot via petition, it is a referendum on 2018's Senate Bill 10, which would have replaced the state's cash bail system with a risk assessment-based bail system, which uses an algorithm to determine whether a suspect should be released. SB 10 had been signed into law in August 2018, and had been scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2019.
The fate of California’s cash bail industry will now be decided on the 2020 ballot
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A "yes" vote on Proposition 25 was to uphold the contested legislation to replace cash bail with risk assessments, and a "no" vote was to repeal the contested legislation, and continue the system of cash bail.
Background
As of 2019, California used a cash bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
system to release criminal suspects awaiting trial and to ensure that they return for their court dates. On August 28, 2018, then governor Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...
signed SB10, which ended the use of cash bail, replacing it with a risk assessment. The American Bail Coalition, a trade association, organized and led the effort to repeal this legislation.
Support
The California Democratic Party
The California Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in Sacramento, the state capital.
With 46.59% of the state's registered voters as of February 2024, the Democratic ...
supported the Yes on Proposition 25 campaign, as did Governor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...
and Assembly speaker Anthony Rendon
Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World S ...
. In addition, the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...
and the California Medical Association
The California Medical Association (CMA) is a professional organization based in California that advocates on behalf of more than 50,000 physician members in legislative, legal, regulatory, economic, and social issues. The organization was found ...
supported Yes on Proposition 25.
Opposition
Various groups argued against Proposition 25, and hence against SB10.
The California Peace Officers' Association and the California Bail Agents Association opposed SB10.
In addition, civil rights advocates argued that the algorithm should not be used for release decisions, and that SB10 did not sufficiently address supposed racial biases in the criminal justice system. The California Conference of the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
opposed SB10 for similar reasons.
Polling
Results
Notes
References
2020 California ballot propositions
Bail in the United States
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