California Supreme Court Rules Against Unaffordable Bail as Pretrial Detention

Wed, 06 May 2026 14:37:00 +0200

The California Supreme Court has issued a unanimous ruling reinforcing that pretrial liberty should be the default, and pretrial detention should only occur under narrowly defined circumstances. The case of Gerald Kowalczyk, who spent months in jail over a $75,000 bail for a minor nonviolent offense, exemplifies the misuse of money bail to detain poor defendants. The ruling clarifies that if bail is set, it must be an amount that the defendant can reasonably afford. Previous practices effectively created a shadow detention system, disproportionately affecting low-income individuals charged with nonviolent crimes. Despite a 2021 precedent (Humphrey) declaring wealth-based detention unconstitutional, compliance has been poor. The ruling emphasizes the need for proper funding of public defense, availability of pretrial alternatives such as treatment programs and monitoring, and court oversight through standardized reporting and training. Pretrial detention without justification can lead t