Merc news story on zero-dollar bail confuses readers, privileges hard-left jailbreak supporters

Santa Clara County's zero-dollar bail order—which released people accused of crimes without bail—was rescinded last week amid concerns from San Jose officeholders that the order increased crime. The Merc's news coverage of the development bizarrely focused more on the arguments against the news development than on the news itself, revealing a curious bias toward left-leaning, decarceration advocates. A quick analysis of the story follows. To receive daily updates of new Opp Now stories, click here.

Merc: Santa Clara County Superior Court has decided to allow its emergency zero-dollar bail order to expire at the end of the month, marking a quiet end to a polarizing jail-release policy enacted in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Analysis: The trouble with this story begins right away, as the author tries to position zero-dollar bail order as a COVID response, when in fact all the reasons cited by advocates and the reporter have nothing to do with COVID, but rather with the purported social justice issues around incarceration. The Merc never provides metrics suggesting that COVID is an issue in county jails, nor that the order provided any health benefit.  

Merc: The policy, which made thousands of people accused of low-level crimes eligible for release to relieve jail crowding as the coronavirus spread unchecked…

Analysis: Unchecked? Dr. Cody might disagree. The county implemented many programs—which they claim were quite successful—to check the spread of COVID.

Merc: Critics saw it as a dangerous get-out-of-jail free card exploited by repeat offenders, while supporters saw an eye-opening glimpse into a criminal-justice system that didn’t default to bail and pretrial detention practices long tainted by harsh racial and socioeconomic inequities. 

Analysis: Note for the Merc's language: the zero-dollar bail opponents' arguments are diminished by board-game metaphors while its advocates are lifted by metaphors of epiphany and (you guessed it) the invocation of "equity."

The article goes on to invoke classic media bias techniques of stacking the story's deck in favor of third-party commenters advocating for zero-dollar bail (more commenters, priority placement) and against zero-dollar bail opponents (Mayor Liccardo's criticisms are described as "rhetoric"). Mark Lisheron's Guide To Media Bias is a useful companion to reading this article

Read the whole Merc piece here.

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This article is part of an exclusive Opp Now series.

  • In the first article, national criminal justice organizations echo the City’s concerns that catch-and-release policing encourages crime.

  • The second article features commentary from SJPD Sergeant Christian Camarillo on California’s disastrous zero bail legislation.

  • In the third article, SCC Supervisor candidate Johnny Khamis and SJ Mayor candidate Matt Mahan emphasize the importance of ditching catch-and-release procedures.

  • Then, Opp Now breaks down a Merc article privileging jailbreak supporters for the fourth series installment.

  • Finally, in the fifth article, Asian Industry B2B president Marc Ang rebuts pro-jailbreak San Joseans’ rhetoric.