House Bill 1015 is calendared to be voted on today which proposes to place offenders subject to a new public safety assessment on pre-trial release as proposed by the Chief Justice of the SD Supreme Court. As it notes:
It proposes a “pilot project” to place those arrested for a felony under the supervision of a presentence court officer, without any specific requirement of any bond guaranteeing their appearance. Why is a catch and release proposal for felons being contemplated in South Dakota without more discussion of how they’re going to hold their feet to the fire to show up?
Why do we need a brand new pilot project to let those accused of felonies walk the street with few conditions guaranteeing they’re going to show up? Do we think our current system is broken? I think they’ve tried this elsewhere to spectacular failure.
In fact, what could end up being a cashless bail program has been viewed pretty harshly by the Trump administration (Executive Orders 14340 & EO 14339), who directly has threatened states’ federal funds over the measure. According to a fact sheet from the White House from August:
PREVENTING FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR SENSELESS CASHLESS BAIL: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to protect Americans by ensuring Federal policies and resources are not used to support cashless bail policies across the Nation.
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- The Order directs the Attorney General to submit a list of States and local jurisdictions with cashless bail policies.
- The Order instructs the Administration to identify Federal funds currently provided to cashless bail jurisdictions that may be suspended or terminated.
STOPPING DANGEROUS RELEASE: Cashless bail policies allow dangerous individuals to immediately return to the streets and further endanger law-abiding, hard-working Americans because they know our laws will not be enforced.
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- A 2023 study out of Yolo County, California found that its “Zero Bail” policy resulted in 163% more crime and 200% more violent crime compared to those who posted bail.
- Last year, a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member, freed without bail after an attempted murder in New York, was rearrested for drug trafficking in Miami and released again, before finally being arrested and held for alleged sex-trafficking of a minor.
- A repeat offender, arrested six times in a year, was released without bail after his most recent arrest. At the time, he had 47 priors and 28 convictions for preying on New Yorkers.
- Earlier this year, a homicide suspect in Rockford, Illinois was able to walk free under its new no-cash-bail system, endangering the community.
- Just this month, a pair of convicted killers caught dealing drugs in broad daylight were released without bail in New York City.
- Our brave law enforcement officers risk their lives to arrest dangerous criminals, only to be forced to arrest the same individuals, sometimes for the same crimes, while they await trial on the previous charges – a waste of public resources and obvious threat to public safety.
MAKING AMERICA SAFE AGAIN: The American people elected President Trump to get tough on crime and restore safety to communities nationwide.
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- President Trump: “When I’m reelected, I will crack down on the left-wing jurisdictions that refuse to prosecute dangerous criminals and set loose violent felons on cashless bail… If you kill somebody, there’s no bond. Don’t worry about it. Go ahead. Kill somebody else. These people are crazy, I’ll tell you.”
- Earlier this month, President Trump mobilized the national guard and took over the D.C. Metro Police Department to restore law and order in the District of Columbia.
- On his first day in office, President Trump sealed the southern border and launched the largest deportation operation in history to remove criminal illegal aliens.
- President Trump issued an Executive Order in April directing various measures to empower and provide unjust-liability protections to law enforcement across the Nation to firmly police dangerous criminal behavior and protect innocent citizens.
- He has consistently pushed for stronger law enforcement policies to ensure violent offenders are detained, protecting law-abiding Americans from repeat criminals.
Legislators need to take a good long look before they act on House Bill 1015. Who knows, our federal funding may depend on it.
This is just more DEI BS. I hope our legislators are smart enough to see through it
This doesn’t make any sense. I think you are one of those people that doesn’t know what DEI actually means?
These programs are shown to increase court appearances, leading to a reduction in failure to appear warrants and likewise the resources used to serve those warrants. The legislation also does not saying anything about not requiring a cash bond amount. Currently in SD unless you are charged with capital murder, you are constitutionally and statutorily entitled to a bond amount. Judges often put these same conditions on the monetary bonds they give now, but with no program to help make sure the conditions are being followed. This is a tool in the toolbox and has nothing to do with cashless bail.
This is Cashless Bail- just google PSA Arnold Foundation. Obama started it and Eric Holder pushed it. They called it the “Public Safety Assessment” and the whole deal was about “Racial Disparity” because they thought all judges were racist.
This is ABSOLUTELY cashless bail- The Arnold Foundation “PSA”, Public Safety Assessment” is an algorithm that releases people once they get to the jail- catch and release. This is the tool being used in Pennington. If it was such a great success, why do they have over 600 people sitting in jail- many on “No Bond” holds? Because the judges lock defendants up that don’t abide by conditions of release. No right to bail there, unless you wear an ankle bracelet and pay the county for it. Whatever happened to being innocent until proven guilty.
Mary, take a breath.
I might have to run against my legislator if they vote yes for this crap.
It should be ok, Trump’s order is likely unconstitutional and he has no idea what he’s talking about re “cashless bail.” States should still have the power to decide who they hold before trial and how they go about making those decisions. Remember states’ rights?
In fact, though the Trump’s bail EO is crap, it basically supports what most people want: to use the best tools to ensure that truly dangerous people are able to be detained and can’t buy their way out with a money bond. For people who pose little to no risk, they shouldn’t be jailed just because they can’t afford a bond.