"I Won't Leave Their Side Again" - How a Father Used a Supreme Court Ruling on Bail to Reunite With His Family

Editor's Note: In April of 2026, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling (In re Kowalczyk) limited who could be detained pretrial and banned unaffordable bail. Author and organizer Xavier España sat in courtrooms to see how judges were applying the ruling. While courtwatching and following the efforts of a father trying to be released from a "no bail allowed order" after two years in jail, Xavier realized his efforts for release and to reunite with his family was more personal than he expected.

(Graphic of "Edgar" with his family, based on a photo taken after his release. design by Adrian Avila.)

After sitting in and watching arraignment hearings in Santa Clara courts consistently for the past five years, I've learned that the justice system is hard on the broke and even harder on broke people of color. It became a norm of watching the book getting thrown at people that looked like me or lived in the same neighborhoods as me. On a regular basis, people would be detained because they couldn’t afford the high bail amount, or were “no bail allowed” - so they would have to fight their case from jail.

At the end of April of this year, a California Supreme Court decision came down called Kowalczyk, which has the potential to change all that. The Kowalczyk ruling said that judges could not make bail unattainable, and confirmed that judges were limited as to who they could detain “no bail allowed.”

So for the past five months, other organizers and I have been sitting in court, tracking how judges are reacting to the Kowalczyk decision. And while we are often watching cases of people we are seeing for the first time at court, there has already been impact on a case that feels almost full circle for me.

A Family’s Fight for Freedom

Iris (name changed to protect her anonymity) had been showing up to our weekly participatory defense meetings consistently for over this past year. Those circles are support for families whose loved ones are incarcerated, usually pretrial, so they can strategize collectively on how to help bring their loved one home. She would come on behalf of her fiance, each week reporting back on how he is doing while inside, and gathering material about who he was that could be helpful to win his pretrial freedom. Her fiance Edgar (name changed to protect his anonymity) had been detained “no bail” for two years at this point. They have kids, a home, a life he was taken from, even though he hadn’t been convicted of a crime. Edgar and Iris had been hoping for a bail hearing to change his status from “no bail” to some chance for a release. His privately retained attorney kept telling them release was impossible. But they kept hope, kept putting in the work, and now with Kowalczyk, they wondered if there was a new chance of pretrial freedom.

Then, when we showed up to one if his court hearings, I realized her fiance was someone I went to high school with over ten years ago, which made this case more personal. I remember back in the day Edgar had a cool pair of sunglasses that he wore to school one day and became part of his every day fit. He didn’t have the shades in when sitting in the box at court, but he still looked the same to me, just longer hair and a little bit more weight lol. Seeing someone I knew going through the same system I went through years ago when I was facing charges was like seeing myself sitting in the same seat all over again. It was like Edgar was my clone. We even looked the same - long hair, Latino, went to the same school, knew the same people.

Inside jail, Edgar was doing self-help programs and participating in educational opportunities, anything, he says, to “avoid the chaos of jail.” Despite everything he was trying to do, he still felt like he was “packed in a tuna can.” On the outside, while taking care of their kids, Iris collected information that could be used as a release plan to show the court. She gathered support letters, Edgar’s certificates of completion of in custody programs, work employment opportunities, and a few housing options to prepare for his possible release. 

Preparing for Release on the Inside and Out

At the weekly meetings, there were several times where Iris would come with updates for Edgar, and questions he had. One question a few months ago was about a new case ruling that applied to bail that folks inside were talking about. The case he was referring to was Kowalzcyk. They asked their private attorney about it, if it could help Edgar, but his attorney was unfamiliar with it, and said it wouldn’t matter. Shortly after that week, Edgar got a new attorney, a public defender, who knew about the Kowalczyk ruling, and was open to trying to use it to get him out.

Edgar’s attorney scheduled the new bail hearing to argue for his release. The argument was that his charge was not within the scope of being on the “no bail allowed” list, and if the judge imposed money bail, it had to be affordable to Edgar due to the new Kowalczyk standard. 

With a target hearing date in sight, Isabel gathered even more information. Edgar’s family and friends got together a collection of letters speaking on his character and how they can support him during his release - through treatment plans, housing, and employment. Several of the meetings leading up to his hearing was Iris updating us on new programs Edgar had been doing with copies of the certificates of completion. She put it all together in a binder and gave it to the attorney to use as part of the material submitted for the bail hearing.

The day of Edgar’s bail hearing arrived. As we sat in court, waiting for his name to be called, his attorney came in and greeted Iris and Edgar’s mom, both who took off work to be at court. After letting us know to sit tight as we waited for Edgar’s case to be called, he walked back to his counsel desk, waiting for his turn to address the court. One by one, case after case, not knowing when it would be Edgar’s name to be called added to the anticipation and anxiety. 

Then when we were at the last few cases remaining on calendar, Edgar's name was called and the judge asked for both the public defender and prosecutor to state their appearances. Immediately, the judge recognized out loud that Edgar's charges did not fall under the category of charges where someone could be held no bail allowed - a part of the California constitution called Article 1 section 12. He asked the DA if he is going to argue orally, because there wasn’t any written opposition to the bail review submitted by the prosecution. They said that they submitted something at the original hearing where no bail was given two years ago and wanted to re-use those points today with oral argument. The prosecution started off by agreeing with the judge that he was eligible for bail, however claiming Edgar is a risk due to his criminal past and wanted a high bail. Edgar’s public defender argued in return that the Kowalczyk ruling said the bail had to be affordable to his client. He also argued that Edgar had been in custody for the past two years and has no source of income and an affordable amount to him would be zero dollars for bail. He then spoke on the community Edgar had in support present in the court room. The judge asked a few questions on how to mitigate the risks the DA talked about if he releases Edgar again. His public defender answered by laying out the release plan created by Iris – those letters from loved ones, the programs completed inside by Edgar, all compiled into a social biography packet. It even included an acceptance letter into a sober living environment housing program if needed.

Once the judge heard enough from both sides, the room felt tense as we waited for him to make his ruling. He set bail at 10k, with some supervision conditions, and ordering him to live at one of the programs listed in his packet. A huge sigh and relief went through everyone there in support of Edgar. Days later, on the outside, Edgar told me when the judge granted bail, he wanted to yell out “yeah!” but he maintained a cool demeanor. Quite honestly, seeing Edgar get pretrial freedom after two years, was like watching a comeback win.

Its hard to argue that someone can afford any bail amount after being in custody for two years with no job or income, but Edgar was determined to come home and be a part of his children's lives and rejoice with his family. Immediately upon his release that day, Edgar and Iris began implementing his release plan, connected with his attorney, and doing the court mandated obligations like calling the pretrial officer. 

Being There for Those Who Were There for Him

Then the first weekly participatory defense meeting after the bail hearing came. I expected Iris to come in as usual by herself to give us updates on how Edgar’s case was going. But to my surprise, Edgar walked in alongside her and greeted the room with wide smiles and bear hugs. He thanked everyone for the support at his bail hearing and supporting his fiance through the process. We told him he didn't have to thank us but his words were, “I want to be there for those that were there for me.” This was a warm moment that we often miss because of the speed and intensity of what we are fighting for - freedom of community members. But these are real people like Edgar - a father, a partner, a high school friend, with real life challenges and incarceration will not make those challenges go away or make them better. 

It’s been over a month since his Edgar’s release. He’s already got a job, takes his daughter to school, and is supporting his fiance. He’s getting medical and mental health support he wasn’t able to get inside. He continues to work on his rehabilitation and reintegration, and is mindful his freedom is bigger then just him. He knows the media wants stories of new crimes from people released so the world can believe incarceration is the only solution. Edgar wants to be an example to show the community can be safe while also allowing families to stay together, instead of keeping people detained. His case reminds me that systems were designed to target people like me, and Edgar, but we can prove them wrong, and our people right, with every new family we keep together.