A program that the San Francisco sheriff says has been helpful in easing jail overcrowding is being suspended.
A federal judge has ruled a key part of the sheriff's pre-trial ankle monitoring program violates participants' rights against warrantless searches, but Sheriff Paul Miyamoto says he can't safely operate the program without that provision and is appealing the ruling.
"Our office and the city attorney's office have repeatedly made it clear that we cannot safely administer this valuable program without the warrantless search condition," Miyamoto said.
Miyamoto said, in court, participants are advised they could be subject to search at any time when they are released before trial with an ankle monitor.
According to Miyamoto, about half of the program's current participants are violent offenders.
Now that he's suspending the ankle monitoring program, Miyamoto said he's looking for additional beds in jails to potentially house more people who would otherwise be released with an ankle monitor.
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The San Francisco district attorney and city attorney said the suspension of the ankle monitoring program now creates a new problem for superior court judges. Because San Francisco is a cashless bail county, it now gives them fewer options in how to deal with people who are charged with crimes during their arraignment.
"In many of these cases, we have actually requested detention," District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said. "But yet, this is being used as a less restrictive alternative. Now the court will not have the option of this less restrictive alternative. It will either be complete release with no conditions really or detention."
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This all comes because of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of three men who were in the sheriff's ankle monitoring program.
In court documents, the city attorney's office says Joshua Simon's pre-trial release was actually revoked by the court because he repeatedly violated its orders. David Barber and Josue Bonilla are no longer in the ankle monitoring program.
City Attorney David Chiu said all three men were originally accused of domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon.
"As you can imagine, these home checks are particularly important in domestic violence cases," Chiu said.
The ACLU said its intention was not to force the sheriff's office to abandon ankle monitoring, but it said the sheriff was unfairly imposing requirements on everyone in the pre-trial release program.
"Our concern, and the reason that we brought the lawsuit, was the sheriff was unilaterally imposing additional conditions that were not being authorized by the superior court," Emi Young with ACLU of Northern California said.
Chiu and Miyamoto said they have already appealed to a portion of the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court is yet to rule on that appeal.
