September 23, 2016 To the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, We, the undersigned — a collection of civil rights, immigrant rights, labor, and ethnic advocacy organizations — call on your support of the consensus recommendations from the Santa Clara County Bail and Release Work Group — a diverse collaboration of County officials and community stakeholders. Pretrial detention reform is a pressing national civil rights issue and is equally urgent here in Santa Clara County. The recommendations from the Work Group allow our county to reduce the number of pretrial in-custody detainees and maintain public safety. On any given day in our jails, over 70% of our jail population are people who are there pretrial — meaning they have not been convicted a crime. The overwhelming majority of those inmates are there simply because they cannot afford the bail amount to be released. Consequently, our county’s reliance on money bail is inherently biased against the poor. And the injury of detention can be significant — people lose jobs, homes, and family stability while waiting in jail because they cannot pay the bail amount. Those who do pull the resources together to pay for their release through posting bail through a bail bond company suffer a financial loss that they will never recover — whether they attend every court date or even if charges are dropped. Our County, particularly in light of the efforts to reform our County jail after the death of Michael Tyree, should be particularly motivated to reduce the number of inmates housed in the jails. The recommendations from the Bail and Release Work Group will accomplish that goal by:
- Increasing the number of cite and release of appropriate arrestees, rather than unnecessary -
detentions. Increasing the use of pretrial services. Expanding the number of choices the court has in deciding release options. Involving community stakeholders into supporting pretrial reform efforts. Monitoring and bringing transparency to pretrial release data to ensure effectiveness of various release options.
We are a community that believes in keeping families and communities united and safe. We believe pretrial justice reform is a way for our county’s beliefs to be actualized in a way that will have real life impact on our collective community.
Sincerely, • African American Community Service Agency • Asian Law Alliance • Black Kitchen Cabinet • Coalition for Justice and Accountability • Immigrant Legal Resources Center • People Acting in Community Together • Sacred Heart Community Services • Service Immigrant Rights and Education Network • South Bay Labor Council • Silicon Valley De-Bug • Silicon Valley NAACP • Working Partnerships