Challenging Money Bail Practices in Nevada
Valdez-Jimenez v. Eighth Judicial District Court
Working closely with the Clark County Public Defender’s Office, Civil Rights Corps challenged Nevada’s use of money bail to detain people prior to trial. Our client, Jose Valdez-Jimenez, was indicted in 2018 and assigned a money bail amount of $40,000. Valdez-Jimenez, who was poor and could not afford that amount, argued that the money bail amounted to an unconstitutional detention order made without the rigorous safeguards and findings that are required in order to take the exceptional step of detaining a presumptively innocent person prior to trial. Valdez-Jimenez spent over a year jailed illegally while awaiting trial.
In April 2020, the Nevada Supreme Court issued a historic ruling declaring that every person arrested in Nevada has a right to a thorough hearing before a court requires money for his or her release pretrial, and that if he or she cannot pay that amount the court’s order is equivalent to an order of detention and must meet exacting constitutional standards, including that the detention must be found necessary as a last resort because no less restrictive alternative conditions are reasonably available. This opinion ends decades of illegal practices by Nevada courts.
Media Coverage:
Nevada Supreme Court delivers ‘sea change’ decision on bail | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Apr 9, 2020
Partners:
Filings:
Brief of Amici Curae: Social Scientists (July 25, 2019)
Brief of Amici Curae: Pretrial Services Experts (July 15, 2019)
Brief of Amici Curae: Law Professors (July 15, 2019)
More from the Bail
Sandoval v. Riverside. In May 2025, individuals detained in Riverside County jails filed a class action lawsuit challenging Riverside County’s cash-based jailing of individuals between their arrest and first court hearing, as well as Riverside County’s unnecessary delay of that hearing. Rabbi David Lazar and Reverend Jane Quandt chose to join this lawsuit because they view cash-based jailing as unconscionable. The lawsuit was filed against Riverside County Superior Court, Riverside County, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Chad Bianco.
In partnership with public defenders in Oregon, Civil Rights Corps is challenging Oregon’s longstanding practices of jailing people charged with misdemeanors prior to trial and jailing people charged with other crimes without constitutionally required due process.
Butler v. Prince George's County. In 2022, CRC and partners filed a class action lawsuit challenging Prince George’s County's pretrial detention practices. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that PG County and its officials violate Plaintiffs’ rights under the United States and Maryland Constitutions by detaining people pretrial without meeting the substantive and procedural standards required for pretrial detention.
Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles. CRC and co-counsel brought suit in California Superior Court in November 2022 on behalf of several individuals who had been jailed for five days simply because they could not access enough cash to pay for their freedom.
Caliste v. Cantrell. In 2017, Civil Rights Corps filed a landmark federal class action lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional money bail system in New Orleans, Louisiana.
McNeil v. Community Probation Services. In 2018, five named plaintiffs sued Giles County, TN and two private probation companies on behalf of a class of people who were being supervised on for-profit probation.
Guill v. Allen. In November 2019, CRC filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people locked in jail cells in Alamance County, North Carolina only because they are too poor to purchase their freedom.
Rodriguez v. Providence Community Corrections. In 2018, Civil Rights Corps announced a landmark settlement in a first-of-its-kind class action case in federal court against Rutherford County and Providence Community Corrections, Inc., a private probation company that made millions of dollars over more than a decade by exploiting the poorest people in Rutherford County.
Walker v. City of Calhoun. In 2015, Civil Rights Corps and the Southern Center for Human Rights filed a crucial lawsuit that alleged that the money bail system in Calhoun, Georgia was unconstitutional.