Reference no: EM133269393

Assignment:

Part 1

1. The State of California' legislature passed a law to end California's bail system back in 2018. The governor at the time, Jerry Brown, signed the bill into law in April of 2018, thereby eliminating cash bail for arrestees. This law created a new "risk assessment"-based system wherein non-violent misdemeanants would have to be released from custody within 12 hours of arrest. All other criminal suspects would be subject to a risk assessment by a judge. The judge would determine if the suspect was a low, medium, or high risk. This assessment would determine if the suspect would be held, pending arraignment, or released from custody. Since the bail industry would basically be put out of business by this new law, their lobbying group qualified an initiative for the November 2020 ballot. The voters of the state voted bail reform down, so California will not be changing to the risk assessment model for determining the release of criminal suspects after all.

2. In this discussion, your assignment is to address whether you think the current bail system is a good idea or not and support your position.

Part 2

1. The United States Constitution is the "supreme law of the land" and one (1) of the central sources of procedural law in the United States. The Bill of Rights encompasses four (4) Amendments that are critical to defining freedoms with respect to criminal procedures. One of the many concepts that were brought forward by the Founders in writing our Constitution was the idea of separation of powers. The framers of the Constitution realized that each of the three (3) branches of government had specific purposes in the design of the new nation's system of government. However, they also recognized that each branch also had to be restrained from assuming, or attempting to assume, powers not intended to be within their purview or purpose to exercise.

2. In this discussion, your assignment is to explain how the United States Constitution's separation of powers functions within our government and how this process protects our system of government in the United States.