In re Humphrey

*516 *1013 Nearly forty years ago, during an earlier incarnation, the present Governor of this state declared in his State of the State Address that it was necessary for the Legislature to reform the bail system, which he said constituted an unfair "tax on poor people in California. Thousands and thousands of people languish in the jails of this state even though they have been convicted of no crime. Their only crime is that they cannot make the bail that our present law requires." Proposing that California move closer to the federal system, the Governor urged that we find "a way that more people who have not been found guilty and who can meet the proper standards can be put on a bail system that is as just and as fair as we can make it." (Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., State of the State Address, Jan. 16, 1979.) The Legislature did not respond.

Undaunted, our Chief Justice, in her 2016 State of the Judiciary Address, told the Legislature it cannot continue to ignore "the question whether or not *1014 bail effectively serves its purpose, or does it in fact penalize the poor." Questioning whether money bail genuinely ensures public safety or assures arrestees appear in court, the…