California voters have rejected an effort to eliminate cash bail in the state, with the measure losing 55% to 45% as of Wednesday morning.
The result is a dismissal of efforts by reformers who have pushed California over the past decade to dramatically rethink the way it approaches criminal justice.
Proposition 25 was a referendum on Senate Bill 10, a law passed by the California Legislature and signed by former Gov. Jerry Brown two years ago. That law eliminated cash bail as an option for securing release from jail after an arrest, and replaced it with a system that relies on risk assessments to advise judges, who would make the final call.
Under the law, most people arrested for misdemeanors in California would be automatically released before trial, while those accused of violent crimes would be held in jail without an option for release, and people arrested for less serious felonies would be able to make their case to a judge.
Because the bail industry gathered enough signatures to put the referendum on the ballot, the law was on hold until voters weighed in. The No vote on Proposition 25 now means that law will not be implemented.
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— Marisa Lagos (@mlagos)
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