ACLU…Where are You?
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF Typically, when I write bail reform related blogs, I like to focus on the victim side of the issue. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but it just seems that no one is concerned about…
Bail Reform and Risk Assessments: Trusting Public Safety to a Roll of the Dice
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF Last week, California’s Judicial Council agreed to pay $70 million for the world’s largest Magic 8 Ball. We aren’t sure of the actual dimensions of the giant 1970’s popular prognosticating pool ball, but we are told it is going…
Bail Reform Hypocrisy: Your Money Bad…Our Money Good
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF If you have been following the bail reform movement, you know its proponents hate “money bail” more than anything. They call it unfair. They call it ineffective. They call it socially and economically unjust. They call it racist. That…
Charitable Bail Funds: The Latest Dangerous Bail Reform Idea
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF Over the past few months, I have learned an important lesson about the bail reform movement. Its organizers are so focused on eliminating the bail industry that they are willing to do anything…even if it means putting the public…
If You Want To Reform the Criminal Justice System Why Not Ask a Bondsman?
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF It is a Wednesday morning and I just finished reading another report, this time from Los Angeles County, providing bail reform recommendations to the LA County Supervisors. As usual, the report was full of the typical bail reform talking…
Bail Reform Advocates Miss the Point of Justice for ALL
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF I was speaking with a good friend last week on the phone and, as usual, our conversation turned to bail reform. It is sad that happens, but when you are in my line of work, inevitably all conversations seem…
Why Bail Reform is the Worst Thing Ever for Public Safety
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF As someone who has been deeply immersed into the bail reform debate for several years, I cannot tell you how much it irks me to hear bail reform advocates talk about “public safety.” Especially since the truth about bail…
No Place For Victims in Criminal Justice Reform
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF For the past several months I have been lucky enough to do some work with a woman who is a true advocate for justice. She spends countless hours trying to defend those people who can’t defend themselves. She gives…
Defending Bail: A Quest for Truth
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF Over the past several weeks, I have been on an important quest across the country. Okay, it’s not really a quest, but it sounds a whole lot better than simply saying I have been travelling around a lot. From…
Bail Reform: It’s Time to Face the Truth
BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF Earlier this month, a California Public Safety Committee in the Assembly voted out Senate Bill 10. This bill would all but eliminate the private sector commercial bail industry and in its place put a large taxpayer funded government bureaucracy…