Dec. 29, 2025
Bail policy changes falter as courts resist individualized hearings
Despite a landmark Supreme Court ruling limiting cash bail, Civil Rights Corps' efforts to enforce individualized bail hearings face resistance from judges and prosecutors, leaving many indigent defendants jailed pretrial.
Malcolm Vaughn sits in a Solano County jail cell, accused of attempted second degree robbery after he paid $2 for a $2.50 donut, then struggled with the shopkeeper's son and left without the cruller. Also charged with drug possession, he has been locked up since June.
He's among the latest clients of Civil Rights Corps, a legal advocacy nonprofit that partners with public defenders' offices around California to file habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people in jail ...
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