Chapter 36 – Oppose SB10: A Dangerous “Social Justice Experiment”

Is Bail Reform trending due to the amount of money pouring in from George Soros and his mission to FREE all the criminals from prisons and jails? Who is George Soros and why is he trying to destroy our criminal justice system state by state? Based on a Google search of George Soros some stories are true and others false. Fake News that circulated about Soros stated he was funding “Black Lives Matter” to overthrow the United States Government. Another story stated “Evil Globalist George Soros Declares Trump’s America is a “Hostile Nation” For Opposing Globalism” from his own http://www.Soros.News website. We now know that George Soros “anonymously” donated $1.9 Million for Prop 47 in CA which reduced the majority of crimes for thefts and drugs to misdemeanors.  CA has an epidemic of homeless and drug addicts living on our streets committing more crimes. Public Safety groups supported Law Enforcement and OPPOSED Prop 47 with radio and television commercials in a futile attempt to stop the tsunami of crime with the passage of Prop 47.  Retail businesses are suffering as a result of the increase in commercial burglaries due to Prop 47. 14 celebrities have had their homes burglarized during the past year. The first 10 minutes of every news broadcast is about crime in our cities which were once much safer before Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB109, Prop 47, Prop 57 and now SB10 is on its way if we don’t stop it now.  As long as the theft is under $950 the crime is a misdemeanor and basically a slap on the wrist.  Before Prop 47 an arrest for burglary over $500 was a felony and the bail amount was $25,000.  Now? Misdemeanor and $2,000. bail.  Got illegal drugs? METH? No problem. Misdemeanor and $2,000. bail.  Crime in San Diego has increased since the passage of Prop 47.  George Soros wasn’t happy with the increase in crime and less arrestees sitting in jail.  Soros decided to take it up a notch and turn the entire criminal justice system in the United States into a farce. That’s right a farce. Commit a crime and NO JAIL. Why not? Soros gave a $50 Million grant to the ACLU to be the voice of abolishing bail in the United States.  Criminals could be booked and released with a “promise” to return to court.  No bail anymore.  We all know that a criminal that “allegedly” breaks the law will go to court without any skin in the game….right?  Wrong.  Doesn’t matter.  George Soros will spend as much money as it takes to destroy the United States and our Criminal Justice System we’ve had in place since 8th Amendment Right to Bail was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1789 (rev. 1992).

New Jersey was the first state to pass Bail Reform the “Social Justice Experiment” in 2014 and went into effect on January 1, 2017.  How’s it working?  Letter from Assemblymen Bob Andrzejczak  On July 3, 2017, Assemblymen Bob Andrzejczak sent a letter to CA Assembly Speaker Rendon with a WARNING not to pass SB10. Here’s his letter:

“Dear Speaker Rendon,

I am a democratic member of the New Jersey Assembly representing Legislative District 1. Prior to joining the Assembly, I served in the Iraq War as a sergeant in the Army’s 25th Infantry Division until my discharge following an injury which led to the amputation of my left leg from a grenade explosion in 2009. As a result, I was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star; my recovery was featured on a 2009 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

As you may know, New Jersey passed and has implemented a bail reform policy similar to California SB10 which you are considering. I supported the legislation when presented to our Assembly and advocated for its passage. The law went into effect this past January and it has been an absolute disaster. The public safety needs of citizens in New Jersey has suffered far and greater than could have been imagined. The costs to the state have increased exponentially and, even worse, the constitutional rights of many of the accused are being infringed.

We were told that there would be no danger to citizens because the dangerous criminals would not be released and only “low level” criminals would be eligible.  The reality is that dangerous and career criminals are released daily within hours of arrest.  We should never have considered free bail to those who commit crimes where a citizen has been victimized. We may only catch a criminal once out of multiple crimes in which they commit.  They are simply not afraid of committing crimes against citizens and as a result our crime rate has increased at least 13% since January. This law is victimizing law-abiding citizens every day.

We were also misled as to the cost of implementation and continuation of this policy. It has become apparent to us now that the cost of incarcerating those held awaiting trial were greatly exaggerated. Additionally, we have transferred the cost of “free” bail to the taxpayer rather than the offender. The bail system supported many functions of the court and the cost of re-arresting multiple offenders and bail jumpers was borne by the offenders themselves rather than the taxpayers. Now we are making taxpayers pay to release criminals back into neighborhoods and with no accountability. The state does not have the resources to properly monitor these people out on bail so we don’t. This is a powder keg and our citizens are suffering because of it.

Not only are our citizens suffering but now even the accused are being denied their constitutional right to pre-trial release as a result of the new laws. The 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees an accused the right to “reasonable bail.” However, in New Jersey, many are being denied that right. This is not just happening to dangerous criminals it is happening to low level offenders as well. The risk assessment system is simply not working. In January, a convicted child predator was arrested for attempting to lure a 12 year old girl to his house for “sexual things.” The risk assessment determined he was not a threat and was released. The police chief of Little Egg Harbor was so distressed by this that he appealed the release all the way to our supreme court and was denied. The man was released back into the same neighborhood where the “would be” victim resides. The only recourse for law enforcement was to post on Facebook a warning to the community.

I am not “in the bag” of any industry or special interest. I fully thought this was the right thing to do because of the arguments we heard. I am writing to you because I have experienced this first hand and it has been a disaster. I am trying to rectify a problem in New Jersey that we caused and hopefully encourage you not to make the same mistake. Please listen to the experts on this issue and look at the examples before you because the safety and financial interests of your citizens are at stake. Thank you for your time.”

Sincerely,

Bob Andrzejczak

Assemblyman, First Legislative District

On July 11, 2017 the CA Assembly Public Safety Committee held a hearing to consider SB10. The letter from Assemblyman Andrzejczak was sent to every member of the committee prior to the hearing. Speaking before the Public Safety Committee, Senator Robert Hertzberg, author of SB10, told the committee they should ignore the letter from NJ and stated bail reform is a success in New Jersey with 95% of the Pre-Trial Arrestees released without bail returned to court and went on to say New Jersey is saving money as a result. Hertzberg should be admonished for his complete and fabricated lies to push  SB10 through the CA Assembly.  Why would a Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient take the time to write a letter to the CA Assembly Speaker if he wasn’t trying to protect the citizens of California?  And Senator Hertzberg just stood there telling lie after lie about New Jersey…..how could he say “ignore the letter from New Jersey?” We depend on our lawmakers to protect public safety. How can we ever trust Senator Hertzberg when the letter from Assemblyman Andrzejczak was written from his heart with regret for supporting bail reform in New Jersey and putting the citizens of his state in jeopardy.

In 2012 a study was conducted by the ACLU for the Los Angeles County jail system.  The results do not reflect what the ACLU are saying in 2017.  The study showed 87% of the Pre-Trial Arrestees in custody were due to “non-financial holds.”  Only 13% are in custody because they cannot afford their bail. The L.A. County Sheriff just released their 2016 Custody Report and less than 5% are in jail for misdemeanor “low level” crimes and remain in custody possibly due to poverty.  L.A. County Sheriff 2016 Custody Report

CA Lawmakers are telling lies to push SB10 thru before the citizens of CA are informed about SB10, have an opportunity to read the text of the bill, weigh in on abolishing bail and being responsible for the $3.9 Billion/yr it will cost to overhaul the CA Criminal Justice System.  Senator Robert Hertzberg has used erroneous figures to exaggerate the urgency of passing SB10.  CA pays $100 per day for housing pre-trial arrestees in CA jails. How much money do you think CA will save by releasing 300,000 criminals to the streets to commit more crimes and then catch them again when they fail to appear in court?  It costs $1,700 per fugitive to re-arrest someone with an Arrest Warrant. We have hundreds of thousands of active warrants in CA. Contrary to what Senator Hertzberg is saying about the amount of money CA can save with SB10, the truth is the amount of money it will cost will be astronomical which will be passed on to the 58 counties in CA. Property Taxes will skyrocket to pay $3.9 Billion/yr for CRIMINALS TO GET OUT OF JAIL FREE.

Why should you oppose SB10? Victims will be disenfranchised. Law Enforcement will be undermined. Court and jails will be overwhelmed by the 6 hour window given with SB10 to either release or detain arrestees. Only 6 hours to make a decision that will victimize the victim of a crime again.  Public Safety is being threatened by SB10. And Arrestees will no longer have their 8th Amendment Right to Bail. The decision will be left to a computer software program and a judge. Currently the judges in CA have the ability to release a defendant on their own recognizance (O.R.), reduce the amount of bail at a Bail Review Hearing, Court Order a GPS Ankle Bracelet, Stay Away Orders or Hold with No Bail. Judges decide bail amounts based on the Bail Schedule for each county, a defendant’s threat to public safety and if he or she is a flight risk. SB10 will only base release from custody on if the Arrestee will return for court which is a dangerous way of assessing someone arrested for a crime.  The very people Senator Hertzberg claims will be able to get out of jail free will be left in jail without any hope of getting out without bail. In most cases minorities will be unable to be released due to a flawed algorithm.

Flawed Risk Assessment Software

What can we do to stop SB10? Oppose SB10. The next stop for SB10 is the CA Assembly Appropriations Committee Hearing. SB10 must be stopped. Please call your CA Assembly Member before its too late. SB10 will overwhelm our law enforcement which will slow down the response time from a few minutes to a few hours. By that time it will be too late. Here’s the list of names and phone numbers of the Assembly Members on the Appropriations Committee:

ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (Chair)  (916) 319-2080

Frank Bigelow (916) 319-2005

Richard Bloom (916) 319-2050

Raul Bocanegra (916) 319-2039

Rob Bonta (916) 319-2018

William P. Brough (916) 319-2073

Ian C. Calderon (916) 319-2057

Ed Chau (916) 319-2049

Susan Talamantes Eggman (916) 319-2013

Vince Fong  (916) 319-2034

Laura Friedman (916) 319-2043

James Gallagher (916) 319-2003

Eduardo Garcia (916) 319-2056

Adam C. Gray (916) 319-2021

Al Muratsuchi (916) 319-2066

Jay Obernolte (916) 319-2033

Eloise Gomez Reyes (916) 319-2047

Chapter 26 / Be Home for the Holidays

The dream of being home for the holidays is upon us again.  Unfortunately there will be some people who won’t make it home this year due to drunk driving.  Either your loved one will be the drunk driver spending the holidays in jail or your loved one will be injured or worse…killed by a drunk driver.

I rest my case.

The statistics on the website for MADD  http://www.madd.org/statistics/ are frightening.   Here’s just a few of the statistics:

• “An average drunk driver has driven 80 times before the first arrest.”
• “Almost every 90 seconds, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash.”
• “Over 1.4 million drivers were arrested in 2010 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.”
• “In fatal crashes in 2010, the highest percentage of drunk drivers:

                  Age 21-24  (34%)

                 Age 25-34  (30%)

                 Age  35-44  (25%)

During the holidays law enforcement increase the number of officers out on our streets and highways in an effort to try to prevent drunk drivers from injuring themselves or others.   Checkpoints are set up randomly all over San Diego County trying to stop drunk drivers.  The Amber Alert signs on the highways are requesting citizens to call 911 if you suspect a drunk driver is out on the roads.   This is an all out effort to save lives.

The reason the number of DUI arrests increase over the holidays is simple.   More people are out on the road traveling due to office parties and visiting friends and family.   Many companies celebrate the holidays at offices and hotels where alcohol is served.   The root of the problem is your judgment is impaired by alcohol and/or drugs.   The few glasses of Egg Nog with Rum seemed so innocent.  A few shots of Tequila didn’t seem to be a very big deal at the time.  The holiday season….good times.    After the office party ends everyone gets into their vehicles to drive home.   The smart people will spend the night at a hotel or call a taxi cab.   For those people who think they’re sober enough to drive its like playing Russian Roulette.   The impaired drivers have a very high risk of being arrested for a DUI in San Diego County.   Once an officer stops a driver under suspicion of drunk driving the chances of being arrested are high.  The officer will ask the driver if he or she has been drinking.  If you admit that you had any alcohol before getting into your vehicle to drive the Sobriety Test is a simple formality.   If you choose to blow in the Breathalyzer it really doesn’t matter what you blow because if the officer believes you’re impaired by alcohol or drugs you’re going to jail.  Even if you blow under .08% BAC you’re going to jail.  If you refuse to blow and ask to have your blood drawn you’re still going to jail since the BAC results won’t be known for several weeks.  Once you’ve been stopped by law enforcement for suspicion of DUI you can plan on going to jail and in most cases your vehicle will be towed and stored until the Registered Owner can retrieve the vehicle out of impound.

Once you’ve been arrested in San Diego County for a DUI the officer will transport you to jail.   Men go to Central Jail and women to Las Colinas.   If you’re arrested in North County both men and women are taken to the Vista Jail.   Take advantage of the time you’re in the vehicle with the Arresting Officer.   Due to cell phones most people haven’t memorized any phone numbers.  Everyone is on SPEED DIAL.  Try to memorize ONE phone number of someone who can help you if you’re arrested.  Ask the officer if you can call someone from your cell phone before he/she bags up your property.   During the last few months I’ve had a few calls from people arrested sitting in the back seat of a squad car or a family member calling to arrange bail before the person arrested arrives at the jail.  This is absolutely fantastic and certainly speeds up the process. If the officer won’t let you make any calls on your cell phone ask the officer to write some phone numbers on your hand or a piece of paper.  Once the officer seals up your cell phone in a property bag you won’t see your phone again until you’re released.

For your information a bail bond cannot be posted by any Bail Agent until the inmate is Cleared by the jail.  This process can take a minimum of 4-6 hours or longer depending on how busy the jail is when you arrive.  If you’re arrested for a DUI over the holidays its going to be a very long time before your arraignment if you can’t bail out of jail.  In most cases you could be sitting in jail for a week before you’re arraigned.   The courts will be closed on November 26th and 27th for Thanksgiving, December 25th for Christmas and January 1st for New Year’s Day.

What happens if you’re convicted for a DUI in San Diego?

• Pay a Fine in excess of $1700 in most cases;
• Probation for 5 years and you can’t be arrested with a BAC of .01% or risk Violation of Probation
• Report to Substance Abuse Assessment Unit
• Enroll in the First Conviction Program
• Attend MADD class
• If court ordered attend AA Class

Your Driver’s License will be taken by the Arresting Officer and returned to the DMV.  Your Driver’s License will be returned to you at some point depending on the outcome of your case in the Superior Court.   The Driver’s License could be suspended or restricted for a period of time.   If you need your Driver’s License for your job things are going to get very difficult for you for a while.   If you need to travel on an airplane  you must have a government issued I.D. like a Passport or California I.D. issued by the DMV.  Getting a document notarized will be very difficult without a Driver’s License, Passport or California ID unless you have a Military ID, County or State Government ID or an inmate wristband in jail.

Before you decide to get into your vehicle to drive after having a few drinks with friends and family this holiday season,  think about the consequences of your actions.  You could be spending the holidays in jail because you were arrested for a DUI.  Or worse, your family will be planning your funeral and grieving your loss because you were killed in an accident due to drunk driving.   Please don’t drink and drive.   If you go out make sure you have a Designated Driver who won’t be drinking.  Or take a taxi home.    Play it safe so everyone can be home for the holidays.

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