Colorado lawmakers consider banning cash bail for petty crimes, joining national reform movement
"The bill would ban judges from setting money bail for those charged with traffic offenses and municipal charges. The bill would not apply to defendants charged with traffic offenses that involve death or bodily injury or eluding a police officer or municipal offenses that are similar to misdemeanor charges."
"Defendants pay bail to the court — either themselves or through a bondsman — as collateral that they will return for their next hearing. That money is returned if the defendant attends all hearings and complies with court orders."
"For the poorest people, even a $50 bail can be unaffordable, said Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, at a press conference about the bill, which she is co-sponsoring with Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta."
"Michael Marshall wouldn’t have died in Denver County Jail if he had $100 to pay the bail on the trespassing and disturbing the peace charges he faced in 2015, his niece, Natalia Marshall, said at the news conference. He was killed when he asphyxiated on his vomit while being restrained by jail deputies during a psychotic episode."
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