Case: Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles

This case challenged Los Angeles’s cash bail policy, which allowed the city and county of Los Angeles to demand cash bail from arrestees who had not yet been arraigned. On November 14, 2022,  six arrestees who had been held in jail awaiting a judicial determination on the conditions of their release pending further judicial proceedings filed this lawsuit on behalf of themselves and those similarly situated, seeking a preliminary injunction. They filed in California state court under § 1983 and California state law, against the city and county of Los Angeles, the LASD, the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, the Chief of the LAPD, and the California Attorney General, alleging that the policy resulted in detention and punishment for pre-trial detainees simply because they could not pay bail. The case was assigned to Judge Lawrence Riff.

The plaintiffs amended this application twice, filing the operative version on April 24, 2023. On May 16, 2023, the court issued a preliminary injunction, finding that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits given recent bail reform precedent, and that it was in the public interest to issue a preliminary injunction. The court ordered that the injunction be effective as of May 24, 2023.

On April 5, 2023, the named plaintiff filed another lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the city and county of Los Angeles, the LASD, the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, the Chief of the LAPD, and the California Attorney General under § 1983 and California state law. Represented by Public Justice, the plaintiff alleged that his car had been seized in violation of the community caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on warrantless seizures, and that this was part of a pattern engaged in by the defendants. He sought monetary damages and injunctive relief. The case was assigned to Judge Jesus G. Bernal.

On Sept. 8, 2023, following a settlement agreement, the plaintiff dismissed the causes of action against the City and Chief of the LAPD with prejudice.