PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona Supreme Court ruling upholds a state constitutional provision that prohibits bail in felony cases in which there’s a strong indication of guilt of a defendant already out on bail in a separate felony charge.
The ruling Wednesday says the provision approved by Arizona voters in 1970 doesn’t violate due-process rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Attorneys for a defendant charged in two separate drug cases in Maricopa County argued that the 1970 constitutional amendment conflicts with a more recent state Supreme Court ruling that the state can’t automatically deny bail to all defendants charged with a certain sex crime.
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The latest ruling says the pretrial detention requirement meets required standards by being narrowly focused and intended for a regulatory purpose, not as punishment.
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