Law Professor’s Complaint Against L.A. Superior Court Judge Alleges Disturbing Pattern: Ignoring California Bail Law

Los Angeles County, CA – Forty days ago, Professor Priscilla Ocen at Loyola Law School sent a complaint to the Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Samantha Jessner, to bring Judge Jessner’s attention to what Professor Ocen described as a pattern of serious misconduct by Judge Tomson Ong, a Long Beach judge. In the letter, Professor Ocen described her personal observations of Judge Ong repeatedly failing to inquire about the accused’s ability to pay, despite the California Supreme Court’s precedential case, In Re Humphrey, that makes this practice unconstitutional. Professor Ocen’s complaint includes a comprehensive memorandum by legal nonprofit Civil Rights Corps documenting similarly improper bail rulings by Judge Ong in other matters. 

The Court of Appeal’s groundbreaking 2018 Humphrey decision dramatically reformed the way cash bail is set in California, ostensibly ensuring that poor people who are presumed innocent do not languish in cages pretrial for no reason other than a lack of funds. Shockingly, a 2022 UCLA report found “no evidence that Humphrey has resulted in a decrease in median bail amounts in California… [or] a decrease in the average length of pretrial detention…” Professor Ocen’s complaint goes to the heart of this crucial statewide issue, as the problem seems to be that while the law has changed, too many judges are not following it. Indeed, a study of three Bay Area counties revealed that judges were considering the defendant’s ability to pay in a paltry 0.5% of cases.

The memorandum from Civil Rights Corps analyzed arraignment hearings conducted by Judge Ong. After  reviewing 11 arraignment transcripts they found that 10 resulted in Judge Ong imposing cash bail without stating any consideration of the accused’s ability to pay in violation of the Humphrey case. The memorandum includes Judge Ong’s concession to a Civil Rights Corps attorney: “I’ll be honest with you—I don’t know the resources. I know under Humphrey resources are supposed to factor in.” 

The complaint regarding Judge Ong includes one case where a woman accused of hit-and-run came to court for arraignment. The records suggest that her public defender asked Judge Ong to allow her to continue coming to court out-of-custody, since she had never before failed to appear in court and was in her 50’s. Judge Ong imposed money bail, citing the bail schedule, and ordered her arrested in the courtroom, calling her a “flight risk.” According to the complaint, Judge Ong did not inquire into, or make any ruling about, the defendant’s ability to pay. When she asked, “Your Honor, please, can I just tell you something, please?” Ong told her: “Ma’am, you have a Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. I insist on it.” 

“The law is clear: judges cannot hold people pre-trial because they are too poor to pay bail,” said Professor Priscilla Ocen. “Judges, who are supposed to enforce the law, should not be permitted to systematically violate the law, especially when it comes to the basic rights of vulnerable people.”

Professor Ocen’s letter asked that Presiding Judge Jessner: (1) remove Judge Ong from arraignment hearings; (2) investigate how widespread this conduct is in Los Angeles County by collecting data and transcripts of other judges’ arraignment hearings and sharing that information with outside researchers; and (3) collaborate with Professor Ocen on the type of trainings and other mechanisms to ensure that every courtroom complies with constitutional rights at arraignment hearings. Judge Jessner has failed to respond or acknowledge receipt of Professor’s Ocen’s complaint.

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About Civil Rights Corps
Civil Rights Corps is a non-profit organization dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the American legal system through innovative civil rights litigation. CRC works with individuals accused and convicted of crimes, their families and communities, people currently or formerly incarcerated, activists, organizers, judges, and government officials to challenge mass human caging and to create a legal system that promotes equality and human freedom. Website: civilrightscorps.org

Media contacts:
Cheryl Bonacci, Civil Rights Corps | cheryl@civilrightscorps.org