A new bail schedule that lowers bail to nothing for nearly all misdemeanors and many felonies led to more than 300 people being released from San Diego County jails on Wednesday. However, District Attorney Summer Stephan objected to 176 eligible inmates being freed immediately, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. That move, which Public Defender Randy Mize said was excessive, will lead to scores of bail disputes being heard by a judge beginning next week. The releases will lower the jail population to 4,000, the lowest in years. Local criminal justice system officials including Stephan, Mize, Sheriff Bill Gore and Superior Court Presiding Judge Lorna Alksne, have been meeting daily and working to reduce the number of inmates in order to blunt a potentially devastating spread of the COVID-19 illness among the incarcerated population and workers in those facilities.
Gore said the jail has had three positive cases. Another five jail employees have also tested positive. In the past few weeks, hundreds of inmates have been released in a variety of ways. Those who had fewer than 60 days left on a sentence were released early. Nearly 400 inmates have been released under orders worked out with defense lawyers, which allow someone to be set free with certain conditions. The individuals still remain charged and will return to court to complete their cases at a later date. The inmates being released this week are the product of a statewide, emergency bail schedule. Of the 176 cases as of Wednesday prosecutors want reviewed, 44 involve people who have been in jail for more than a month without seeing a judge.