08/28/2026
Vera Wants a “Culture Change.” The Facts Demand Accountability.
The Vera Institute of Justice is once again promoting the idea that California’s courts have not gone far enough in reducing bail and pretrial detention. Vera senior researcher Madeline Bailey says the California Supreme Court made clear that “pretrial liberty is the norm” and now argues that implementing the decision requires a “culture change” within the courts. But the Sacramento Bee story Vera is promoting contains facts that raise a much more important question: why should judges be pressured to change their culture when the previous reforms have not demonstrated that they produced better results?
Start with Gerald Kowalczyk, the defendant whose case produced the April 2026 California Supreme Court decision. The story initially presents a low-level theft involving a credit card and a cheeseburger. Keep reading. Kowalczyk had approximately 60 prior convictions. The Supreme Court record is even more specific: 64 prior convictions, including felony attempted robbery and burglary, prior failures to comply with supervision, criminal activity across multiple counties and states, and substantial concerns that he would not return to court. The judge did not pull $75,000 out of thin air because Kowalczyk was poor. The judge was looking at the history of the person standing before the court.
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