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Civil rights group executives filed a lawsuit late Wednesday to challenge Riverside County’s use of cash bail and detain people to await trial.
The class action lawsuit is the latest to challenge the legality of California’s cash bail system after a 2021 Supreme Court decision found it unconstitutional for prison accused solely because they couldn’t go out from behind bars.
“Riverside County imprisons people every day on the basis of their inability to pay arbitrary, pre-set cash that defendants request for release,” a civil rights group lawyer argues in an 80-page complaint. “These individuals are not detained because they are too dangerous to be released. The government will release them as soon as they can be paid. They will be detained simply because they are too poor to buy freedom.”
The lawsuit comes from several other law firms on behalf of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit civil rights corps, Oakland’s public justice, and the two people who were jailed in Riverside County Jail and two local faith leaders. It will nominate the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Chad Bianco, Riverside County Superior Court System and the county as defendants.
Sheriff’s department spokesman Deirdre Vickers, said he, like representatives from the county court system, could not comment on the pending lawsuit.
The county’s communications director, Brooke Federico, said the county “the lawsuit has not been offered yet, and comments are too early.”
The lawsuit claims money bail is unconstitutional across California and seeks an injunction to end its use, but the lawyer said it is focusing on Riverside County after his death in prison in 2022.
The following year, Atty, California. Democrat General Rob Bonta revealed that the ongoing investigation into complaints about the living conditions of the county prison and allegations that lawmakers are using excessive force against detainees.
The county has reported 13 prison deaths and six prison deaths and six deaths in 2023 since 2022, according to Vickers.
Bianco, a law and order conservative who joined the Democratic party’s busy field to take over Governor Gavin Newsom in the 2026 election, previously dismissed the state’s investigation into his prison as political motives. Bianco argues that many authorities argue that prison deaths caused by drug overdose and suicide are not indications of the prison system’s problems, but rather reflect prisoner life choices.
In a statement released in Thursday’s campaign, Bianco said he defended the cash bail system and opposed efforts to eliminate it.
“The criminal lobby has been trying for years to destroy the bail system that has been functioning as intended since our country was established,” Bianco said. “We will never support a zero-bale system that puts our residents at risk. If criminals don’t want bail, I advise them to stop breaching the law.”
The cash bail system has deep US roots as a way to pressure defendants to appear in scheduled court appearances. When you attend trial, a significant amount of cash payment will be returned to you or your family. Skip the coat and you lose your deposit.
Critics argue that it effectively created a two-tier judicial system, allowing wealthy defendants to pay their way while awaiting trial, and stuck low-income defendants behind bars. Advocates who remove the bail system argue that their decision on whether to jail a defendant prior to trial should be based on the severity of their crimes and the risks posed to the public safety, and do not depend on the status of their income.
Brian Hardingham, a senior public justice lawyer, said people sometimes spend their days in prison waiting for their first court appearance. According to Hardingham, that mission behind the bar can have a big impact on people’s lives, especially if they are low-income.
“You meet a six-month-old child with a partner, a parent, or someone who can see the child if they’re lucky,” he said.
Advocates of the cash bail system, including many law enforcement, say that abolishing it could cause many defendants to flee and flee, leading to crime spikes.
The issue was increasingly controversial during the Covid-19 pandemic when the virus had fatal consequences through state prisons and prisons. Los Angeles County enacted a zero-vale policy for most crimes in 2020, attempting to reduce prison crowds when the virus was spreading rapidly. That policy was revoked in June 2022.
Despite concerns from police groups, a 2023 report to the LA County Board of Supervisors showed that while the zero-bale policy was in place it remained relatively static with the re-arrest of re-arrests among released pretrial hearings.
A similar lawsuit filed against Riverside County has urged Los Angeles County Court officials to amend their bail policy in 2023. Under the new system, the majority of defendants have been cited and released under designated conditions after the majority of defendants accused of misdemeanor or non-violent felony have been cited and released or after the judge has considered the case. Defendants accused of serious crimes, including murder, manslaughter, rape and assault of most types, still face tough cash bail schedules.
They fear that a new system will bring about crime spikes. Area total crime patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department fell by about 2% in 2024, according to department data. The city of Los Angeles has seen a significant decline in the number of robberies, property crimes and worsening assaults this year as of mid-May, records show.
Given the 2021 state Supreme Court ruling and the changes in Los Angeles, Hardingham said he hopes other counties will shift their bail policy without participating in court battles.
“We hope they’ll be happy to see them written on the wall and make the necessary changes,” he said.
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