NOV. 8 WATCH : Yes on Prop. 189

The California Constitution generally requires courts to release on bail all those awaiting trial for a crime. Courts may deny bail only in the most serious offenses. Among these are capital crimes; violent felonies when there is a likelihood the accused will harm others if bail is granted, and felonies in which the arrested person is accused of threatening another with physical harm and the court concludes that he or she would carry out that threat if released.

Proposition 189, one of 10 statewide propositions on the Nov. 8 ballot, would, by specific reference, amend the Constitution to permit judges to deny bail to people accused of “felony sexual assault offenses on another person” when bail carries a substantial risk of harm to another.

Any reasonable person would agree that some sexual predators, because of the nature of their crimes or threats, constitute a major danger to society if released pending trial. That’s why the Legislature voted unanimously to put Proposition 189 on the ballot.

We support it, but with some concern.

Proposition 189 may be, in large measure, unnecessary. To the extent that sexual assaults involve violence, such crimes are included among the felonies for which courts already may--and do--deny bail. And while the proposition would permit courts to deny bail for a wider range of serious sexual offenses such as child molestation, it also carries some potential for injustice. Some fear it might prompt judges to unfairly deny bail for those accused of lesser, nonviolent offenses. That must not happen.