SAN JOSE, Calif. – Santa Clara County Superior Court has decided to allow its emergency zero-dollar bail order to expire at the end of the month, marking a quiet end to a polarizing jail-release policy enacted in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The policy, which made thousands of people accused of low-level crimes eligible for release to relieve jail crowding as the coronavirus spread unchecked, was a lightning rod for fiercely opposing perspectives.
Critics saw it as a dangerous get-out-of-jail free card exploited by repeat offenders, while supporters saw an eye-opening glimpse into a criminal-justice system that didn’t default to bail and pretrial detention practices long tainted by harsh racial and socioeconomic inequities.
