Rapper 50 Cent has a grim vision for the future of Los Angeles now that a controversial zero bail policy is back, saying that the city is “finished” as offenders will now be back on the streets in a lightning-fast turnaround after being arrested for a variety of crimes.
“LA is finished,” wrote the 48-year-old hip-hop star in an Instagram post in which he also shared a segment from FOX 11 Los Angeles on a judge’s recent ruling that holding offenders in jail when they can’t afford to pay bail violates their constitutional rights, a ruling that some fear will only further embolden criminals.
“Watch how bad it gets, SMH,” added the 48-year-old artist whose real name is Curtis Jackson, expressing his opinion to followers about the May ruling by LA County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff in favor of a half dozen activists who sued the county, alleging that the system favored the affluent.
(Image: Screengrab/Instagram)
“Being jailed for even short periods of time may cause them to lose their jobs, their housing, or custody of their children,” the lawsuit claimed. “They suffer all the harms of confinement in a jail cell even though a large portion of them will never be formally charged with any crime, let alone convicted.”
“Enforcing the secured money bail schedules against poor people who are detained in jail solely for the reason of their poverty is a clear, pervasive, and serious constitutional violation,” Judge Riff said. “Pretrial detention of presumptively innocent people based upon their poverty is neither intended nor permitted to operate as a form of punishment, but that is, plaintiffs say, what is actually happening every day.”
“The Sheriff’s Department will no longer detain people for crimes such as theft, shoplifting, drug use, vandalism, battery, and a whole host of other non-serious, non-violent crimes that affect the quality of life of people here in Los Angeles County,” said LA Deputy DA John McKinney said in the Fox 11 video that was shared by 50 Cent.
(Video: Fox 11 Los Angeles)
Los Angeles officials had originally implemented the no-bail policy during the height of the COVID pandemic in order to ease overcrowding in jails, allowing for those who were being held for crimes such as shoplifting, vandalism, and possession of drugs to be released.
“The impacts of zero bail on violent crime are obvious, and they’re horrific,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig told Fox News Digital about the results of a recent study published by his office. “I mean, we have more people being shot at, stabbed, assaulted, robbed, beaten. These are real victims – and the numbers are staggering under zero bail.”
“It was really important to do this study to have data available to those lawmakers in California who continue to believe that this is the answer to all of the problems in the criminal justice system, that zero bail is somehow going to make things better,” Reisig said of the study. “And it’s not. It’s just going to make everything more dangerous.”
(Image: Screengrab: Fox News/Yolo County District Attorney)
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told Fox News Digital that they will enforce the policy when asked by the outlet after the judge’s ruling in May.
“The Department is aware of the preliminary injunction regarding the cash bail system, and of course will comply with any court-ordered bail schedule.” the agency said in a statement. “The County is also working with the court and other stakeholders to explore ways to reduce the number of people held before arraignment because they can’t afford bail and to provide the Sheriff greater release options to safely reduce the jail population, while always prioritizing public safety.”
“50 Cent has had his own run-ins with the law at various points in his career, making for an interesting take on the system,” Deadline wrote of the rapper in a story on his Instagram post, drawing a response from the rapper.
“Hey I understand why Deadline is reporting my opinion,” he wrote. “I’m a big deal, but why did they write I had run in’s with the law? Im a born again Christian !”
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