Several exemptions to L.A. County's $0 bail rule permit police departments to hold people for misdemeanor offenses commonly associated with protests, including unlawful assembly and failure to disperse.
. The list of exceptions grew to more than 50. Among them are 18 misdemeanor charges for which police can now elect to hold people on bail, including unlawful assembly, unauthorized entry into an emergency area and failure to disperse.“It’s pretty obvious when you look at what they’re exempting,” said John Raphling, an attorney and senior researcher with Human Rights Watch’s U.S. program. “At least three of them in particular are targeting protests. Just plain and simple.
“The Zero Bail Schedule was unanimously approved by the Executive Committee after discussion and consideration of various factors,” Eckhardt Hearn wrote. “The Executive Committee, which is made up of judges and commissioners, concluded that the exemptions were appropriate.” Adding to activists’ concerns is the fact that police already have a great deal of discretion when it comes to arresting people on a charge of unlawful assembly, they said.
Advocates have been closely watching how police interpret the new rules since they took effect less than two weeks ago. Staff with the National Lawyers Guild’s legal observer program have been monitoring protests, including 10 to 15 actions that took place over the weekend, to ensure that arrestees are released promptly, Rogers said.
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