Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig on nature of Zero Bail study
Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig explains the nature of his office's study on Zero Bail recidivism.
A new study comparing California repeat offenders who posted bail with those who were let out with low or no cost under "Zero Bail" policies found that the latter group reoffended more often, more quickly and were accused of 200 times more violent crimes.
"The impacts of zero bail on violent crime are obvious, and they're horrific," said Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, whose office published the study. "I mean, we have more people being shot at, stabbed, assaulted, robbed, beaten. These are real victims – and the numbers are staggering under zero bail."
Under an emergency zero-bail rule at the height of the coronavirus pandemic meant to minimize jail crowding, bail costs were "dramatically reduced," often to $0, according to the study.
After looking at the results, Reisig told Fox News Digital that they show "zero bail is a completely failed policy" and said his goal is for lawmakers to have the data compiled and available to them as the state's legislative session resumes.
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A graph showing a comparison of recidivism rates between suspects who have posted bail vs. those who were released under zero bail policy. (Yolo County District Attorney)
"It was really important to do this study to have data available to those lawmakers in California who continue to believe that this is the answer to all of the problems in the criminal justice system, that zero bail is somehow going to make things better," Reisig said. "And it's not. It's just going to make everything more dangerous."
The new study comes as a follow-up to an August examination of crime in Yolo County, which Reisig said received criticism for not having a control group. So this time, the analysis compared bailed out individuals with zero-bail suspects.
WATCH: Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig says zero bail is a fail across the board
Key findings from the study indicate suspects released without bail were rearrested on 163% more charges than those who posted bail, and they reoffended 70% more often. Those reoffenses resulted in felony charges 90% more often – and they were accused of three times as many violent crimes.
"We saw violent crime going up as soon as zero bail was implemented in our county by court order," Reisig said. "And despite all of our best efforts to try and stop the practice, we were forced to continue to do the zero-bail system, and we saw our communities suffer as a result."
A new study comparing Yolo County, California offenders who posted bail with those were let out under "Zero Bail" found that the latter group reoffended sooner and more often. (Facebook/Yolo County Sheriff's Office)
No-bail suspects also, on average, were arrested on new charges within 129 days – 56 days sooner than those who posted bail. And domestic violence suspects in particular also saw a shocking spike in recidivism.
"Every single individual and every case should be evaluated by a judge, an independent magistrate, who can look at that person's criminal history, look at the facts of the current case and make an informed decision about what their risk level is and what's it going to take to make sure that they don't go out and harm somebody again," Reisig said. "That needs to happen in every case."
WATCH: Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig explains the purpose of bail
Suspects who post bail have a financial stake in both their own freedom and their cooperation with the court, Reisig noted.
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"It is also psychologically much harder to plead guilty and surrender to serve time when you’re out of custody and enjoying freedom," said Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles trial attorney and former federal prosecutor. "That’s why criminal defendants in custody plead and accept responsibility at a higher percentage than those out on bail."
Jailed suspects also get credit for time served, he said.
"Many of us saw this coming and sounded the alarm," said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "All we got for it was the label 'fear-mongerer.'"
The Yolo County study indicates those fears may be well placed. And so does the story of Mary Kate Tibbitts, who was killed in her own Sacramento home in 2021.
"These politicians have blood on their hands, much blood, and including the blood of my sister."
In September of that year, police accused Troy Davis, now 54, of murder, rape, malicious maiming of animals and arson after they say he broke into the 61-year-old woman's house, attacked her, killed her dogs and lit the building on fire.
WATCH: Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig on nature of Zero Bail study
Davis had gone free without bail months earlier on a car theft charge and skipped at least one court date before the attack, records show. Sacramento police arrested him a day after the slaying and revealed he was also an ex-con out on parole with outstanding felony warrants.
Dan Tibbitts, the victim's brother, told Fox News Digital that California's Propositions 47 and 57, which reduced certain crimes to misdemeanors and lowered the number of inmates in state prisons, led to Davis' prior early release.
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Read the study (Mobile users go here)
"These politicians have blood on their hands, much blood, and including the blood of my sister," he told Fox News Digital. "They are doing this pushing their social justice agenda. They are attempting to victimize the criminals and are ignoring the true victims, those who suffer at the hands of the criminals, innocent people like my sister."
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office currently has Davis in custody awaiting trial on more than a half-dozen felony charges, including the attack on Tibbitts. This time, he is being held without bail and his next court date is March 10.
Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig explains the findings of a study examining the effects of zero bail policies on recidivism. (Fox News Digital)
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Tibbitts has vocally opposed legislative efforts to make the coronavirus-era zero-bail policy permanent in California.
"The bail process puts a bail bondsman watching the actions of the accused and assuring they stay out of further trouble and show up for the follow-on court appearances," he told Fox News Digital. "The person who killed my sister, when he was released earlier on zero bail, failed to show up for his follow-on court appearance and, therefore, had a warrant out for his arrest at the time he killed my sister."
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