The District Attorney of Philadelphia is no longer going to seek cash bail for non-violent offenses. “There is absolutely no reason why someone who will show up for court, is not a flight risk, and is no threat to their neighbors and community, needs to sit in jail for days because they can’t post a small amount of bail,” Krasner said. Moving forward, the district attorney’s office will recommend that cash bail not be set for people arrested for one of 25 non-violent offenses outlined by the district attorney’s office. These include driving under the influence, personal use marijuana possession, retail theft, forgery, prostitution and burglary where no one is present. The DAs office will still request cash bond in violent offenses and/or if a particular defendant has a lengthy criminal record.
This is a refreshing step towards a common sense justice system that doesn’t link a fair shake to how much money you do or don’t have. If you want to see this step taken by the Dallas District Attorney’s Office, know that current (Republican) DA Faith Johnson relies heavily on the old cash bond system, while (Democrat) John Creuzot advocates reforming the bail system and (Democrat) Elizabeth Frizell advocates for teaching prosecutors to ask for “appropriate fair amount” of bond (which to me sounds VERY subjective and not systemic reform to the broken system).
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