Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles is a class action lawsuit against the County and City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and the Chief of the LAPD, challenging the defendants’ policy of jailing arrested individuals who are unable to pay the monetary amounts set by the County’s uniform “bail schedules.”
Because they cannot pay, detained people languish for days before seeing a lawyer or a judge at arraignment. But, according to the California Supreme Court, requiring money bail without considering a person’s ability to pay is unconstitutional.
The Urquidi attorneys, plaintiffs and coalition supporters — many of whom are working to correct the “hell” of Men’s Central Jail and the Inmate Reception Center — hope to usethis lawsuit to end widespread constitutional violations that drastically affect the most vulnerable people in LA by stopping the practice of jailing people based on access to cash and developing more fair and effective pretrial policies.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Phillip Urquidi, Terilyn Goldson, Daniel Martinez, Arthur Lopez, Susana Perez, and Gerardo Campos, all of whom were in jail at the time of filing because they and their families could not afford to pay the arbitrary amounts dictated by the bail schedule. They are joined as plaintiffs by an interfaith coalition of CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice); its Executive Director Reverend Jennifer Gutierrez; Reverend Gary Bernard Williams, Pastor Saint Mark UMC and Board Member of CLUE; and Rabbi Aryeh Cohen, Professor of Rabbinic Literature, American Jewish University. These clergy plaintiffs are challenging the unconstitutional use of their taxes to fund the unlawful detention of individuals who are unable to pay bail.
Here are documents and declarations filed in advance of and during hearings in LA Superior Court where the Los Angeles Superior Court considered the plaintiffs’ urgent request for a Preliminary Injunction.
Additionally, there is a section on statistics used in court, in studies and news reports that specifically address the harm done by the unconstitutionally holding a detainee for days based on economic inequality.
That section is followed by several studies and reports, including some published by expert witnesses who submitted testimony to the court.
Briefs & Documents
- Amended Class Action Complaint (November 14, 2022)
- Press release (November 14, 2022)
- Ex Parte Application for Temporary Restraining Order and Order to Show Cause Regarding Preliminary Injunction (November 14, 2022)
Stats
- 1 in 3 California arrests never lead to a conviction. Even when a person is innocent, they are jailed after arrest if they can’t pay cash bail.1 in 6 LAPD arrests are never even charged by prosecutors once they review the case. Though the case is dropped, the harm done to the detainee is not considered.
- 94% of cases people never get a trial
- Pretrial jailingpressures people (including innocent people)to plead guilty.
- Study afterstudy shows that money bail does not increase court appearances.
- Money bailactuallydecreases future court appearance because it destabilizes people’s lives by costing them their housing, jobs, and mental health care.
- Pretrial jailing destabilizes people’s lives andincreases future arrests for new crimes.
- 30% of employed people jailed pretrial lose their jobs.
- 23% of people jailed pretrial lose their housing. Pretrial jailing increases homelessness.
- Just three days of pretrial jailing leads to an average loss of $29,000 in lifetime earnings.
- Pretrial jailing is family separation. Ittraumatizeschildren who lose their parents. It harms every dependent the jailed person cares for including elders, friends, and family members.
- In 40% of cases, pretrial jailing changes a child’s living situation. In 2022, 4,300 women in California spent Mother’s Day in pretrial detention. An estimated 80% of them are mothers.
