Lead Opinion
OPINION
¶ 1 Thеse special actions require us to determine the constitutional minimum requirements for bail hearings when a statute makes certain serious offenses nonbailable. The petitioners were each charged with sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15 and were denied bail under A.R.S. § 13-3961(A)(3). We do not hold that the petitioners were entitled to bail, but that they were entitled to hearings at which the judges could consider whether any release conditions could protect the victims and the community.
¶ 2 In United States v. Salerno,
¶3 Because the categorical rule established by § 13-3961(A)(3) requires denial of bail without considering whether any release conditions could ensure victim and community safety, it is facially unconstitutional under Salerno.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 4 The petitioners in this consolidated special action were (in unrelated cases) arrested and indicted on numerous charges, including sexual conduct with minors under the age of 15, class 2 felonies under A.R.S. § 13-1405(B) and dangerous crimes against children under A.R.S. § 13-705(P)(l)(e). Petitioner Martinez is being held without bond as he awaits trial, on the ground that he is ineligible for bail under A.R.S. § 13-3961(A)(3) and the corresponding Ariz. Const, art. II, § 22(A)(1). Petitioner Simpson was likewise held without bond for a period. But during the pendency of these special actions, the superior court granted his motion to amend release conditions and authorized
¶ 5 The superior court rejected the petitioners’ facial due-process challenges to the bail provisions. The petitioners renew those challenges on special action. The Arizona Attorney General, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Arizona Senate were given an opportunity to participate in this matter, see A.R.S. § 12-1841, but did not do so.
JURISDICTION
¶ 6 We accept special-action jurisdiction because the petitioners have no adequate remedy by appeal.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 7 As an initial matter, we observe that while successful facial challenges are difficult to mount, Salerno,
¶ 8 We must ask whether the nature of the hearing authorized by AR.S. § 13-3961(A)(3) denies due process to those facing a bail determination. If no person charged with the offense can receive the constitutionally required hearing, then the statute is unconstitutional in every case. Bail can constitutionally be denied. The question is whether § 13-3961(A)(3) does so in a manner consistent with due process.
DISCUSSION
¶ 9 Ariz. Const, art. II, § 22(A), provides that “all persons charged with crime shall be bailable by sufficient sureties,” with certain enumerated exceptions. And no person may be deprived of life, liberty, or рroperty without due process of law. U.S. Const, amend. XIV; Ariz. Const, art. II, § 4. Exceptions to the Arizona Constitution’s general rule that bail will be available must therefore satisfy the due process requirements of the United States Constitution. See Salerno,
¶ 10 AR.S. § 13-3961(A)(3) provides: “A person who is in custody shall not be admitted to bail if the proof is evident or the presumption great that the person is guilty of the offense charged and the offense charged is ... [s]exual conduct with a minor who is under fifteen years of age.” We have examined § 13-3961(A) before. See Simpson v. Owens (“Simpson I”),
¶ 11 Our analysis is governed by Salerno. In Salerno, the Supreme Court held that the
¶ 12 The three factors, in toto, that led the Supreme Court to uphold the Bail Reform Act were essential to its reasoning and to the result. The Court wrote that the Act was not
a scattershot attempt to incapacitate those who are merely suspected of these serious crimes. The Government must first of all demonstrate probable cause to believe that the charged crime has been committed by the arrestee, but that is not enough. In a full-blown adversary hearing, the Government must convince a neutral decisionmaker by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release can reasonably assure the safety of the community or any person. 18 U.S.C. § 3142(f). While the Government’s general interest in preventing ciime is compelling, even this interest is heightened when the Government musters convincing proof that the arrestee, already indicted or held to answer for a serious crime, presents a demonstrable danger tо the community, Under these narrow circumstances, society’s interest in crime prevention is at its greatest....
When the Government proves by clear and convincing evidence that an arrestee presents an identified and articulable threat to an individual or the community, we believe that, consistent with the Due Process Clause, a court may disable the arrestee from executing that threat.
Id. (emphases added). The Court’s reference to “these narrow circumstances” and the need for proof beyond probable cause to believe the arrestee committed the crime was neither careless nor accidental; we understand the Court’s reliance on this proof to have been essential to the result in Salerno. See also Demore v. Kim,
¶ 13 Our dissenting colleague argues that Salerno does not hold that all the safeguards for liberty present there are constitutionally necessary, and conflates the first two prongs of Salerno with the third. See infra ¶¶39-42, 30-33. But Salerno did not even suggest that fewer than all of the safeguards in the Bail Reform Act might be allowable.
¶ 14 A.R.S. § 13-3961(D) (and subsection (G), which gives the court discretion to presume that a defendant is unmanageably dangerous if he or she is a criminal street gang member) complies with the third requirement of Salerno.
¶ 15 We conclude that the absence of the third Salerno factor is constitutionally fatal. “Neither Salerno nor any other case authorizes detaining someone in jail while
¶ 16 We recognize that “[i]t has generally been thought ... that capital offenses may be made categorically nonbailable because ‘most defendants facing a possible death penalty would likely flee regardless of what bail was set.’” Lopez-Valenzuela,
¶ 17 It is questionable, however, whether even those capital and similar exceptions are truly “categorical.” See Salerno,
¶18 Arizona’s categorical bail exceptions are almost unique. Only one other state constitution is similar—Nebraska’s constitution categorically prohibits bail for certain sexual offenses. Neb. Const, art. I, § 9. It therefore is not surprising that the question presented by this case is one of first impression.
¶ 19 In Simpson I, we noted that “Arizona law does not require that a risk of flight or a risk of recidivism be considered before bail is denied.”
¶ 21 And even in more starkly predatory cases, not every defendant—even if likely guilty as charged—necessarily poses an unmanageable danger to others or the judicial process before trial. To conflate the re-pugnancy of the offense with the questions that inform bail decisions would open wide the door to the automatic denial of bail for all serious, or violent, or sexual offenses, or all offenses involving a vulnerable victim—a result that would only serve to eviscerate constitutional due process rights.
¶ 22 We do not hold that the court may not deny bail for one accused of sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15, or that the court may not presume that such a person is dangerous. We hold only that the court must consider whether the danger posed by the defendant could, in the particular case, be managed by bail and release conditions—just as is the ease for those accused of terrorism and other dangerous crimes against children. Due process requires that the petitioners be afforded the complete protections prescribed by Salerno.
CONCLUSION
¶ 23 We accept jurisdiction and grant relief. A.R.S. § 13-3961(A)(3) and the corresponding portion of Ariz. Const, art. II, § 22(A)(1), violate the due process protections of the United States Constitution. Because the petitioners are charged with dangerous crimes against children, thеir bail-entitlement hearings should have been governed by A.R.S. § 13-3961(D).
Notes
. Simpson’s bond does not deprive us of jurisdiction. See Hernandez v. Lynch,
. See also Hernandez,
. The dissent cites Simpson I for the proposition that this court has already held that not all the elements required by Salerno are required for the denial of bail. See infra ¶42. But the discussion in Simpson I upon which the dissent relies relates only to the procedural safeguards in the Bail Reform Act, not its substantive requirements.
This is not surprising, because Simpson I was concerned with the procedure for establishing the neсessary evidence of guilt. Before today, this court simply has not addressed the need for compliance with each substantive element of Salerno as a constitutional minimum. Indeed, the only case to hold that the factors in Salerno are nonexclusive in the 29 years since that case was decided is State v. Furgal,161 N.H. 206 ,13 A.3d 272 , 279 (N.H. 2010). We respectfully disagree with that court’s reading of Salerno.
. The statute provides:
Except as provided in subsection A of this section, a person who is in custody shall not be admitted to bail if the person is charged with a felony offense and the state certifies by motion and the court finds after a hearing on the matter that there is clear and convincing evidence that the person charged poses a substantial danger to another person or the community or engaged in conduct constituting a violent offense, that no condition or combination of conditions of release may be imposed that will reasonably assure the safety of the other person or the community and that the proof is evident or the presumption great that the person committed the offense for which the person is charged. For the purposes of this subsection, "violent offense" means either of the following:
1. A dangerous crime against children.
2. Terrorism.
(Emphases added.)
. The Ninth Circuit recently held this exception unconstitutional, Lopez-Valenzuela v. Arpaio,
. The dissent’s reliance on Demore v. Kim,
. See Ala. Const. art. I, § 16; Alaska Const. art. I, § 11; Ariz. Const. art. II, § 22(A)(1); Ark. Const. art. II, § 8; Cal. Const. art. I, § 12; Colo. Const. art. II, § 19; Conn. Const. art. I, § 8; Del. Const. art. I, § 12; Fla. Const. art. I, § 14; Idaho Const. art. I, § 6; Ill. Const. art. I, § 9; Iowa Const. art. I, § 12; Kans. Const. Bill of Rights § 9; Ky. Const. Bill of Rights § 16; La. Const. art. I, § 18; Me. Const. art. I, § 10; Minn. Const. art. I, § 7; Miss. Const. art. Ill. § 29; Mo. Const. art. I, § 20; Mont. Const. art. II, § 21; Nev. Const. art. I, § 7; N.J. Const. art. I, ¶ 11; N.M. Const. art. II, § 13; N.D. Const. art. I, § 11; Ohio Const. art. I, § 9; Okla. Const. art. II, § 8; Penn. Const. art. I, § 14; S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8; Tenn. Const. art. I, § 15; Utah Const. art. I, § 8; Vt. Const. ch. II, § 40; Wash. Const. art. I, § 20; Wyo. Const. art. I, § 14. The categorical capital-offense exception has deep historical roots, see Ariana Lindermayer, What the Right Hand Gives: Prohibitive Interpretations of the State Constitutional Right to Bail, 78 Fordham L. Rev. 267, 274-75 (2009), and has existed in the Arizona Constitution since statehood, Ariz. Const. art. II, § 22 (1912).
.The dissent makes much of the fact that capital offenses were historically broadly defined. See infra ¶34. But Maine is the only state whose constitution retains that historical definition in its bail provision. Me. Const, art. I, § 10.
. Lopez-Valenzuela left open the possibility that non-capital offenses could be subject to valid categorical restrictions on bail: "at minimum, to survive heightened scrutiny any such categorical rule, requiring pretrial detention in all cases without an individualized determination of flight risk or dangerousness, would have to be carefully limited.”
. In a decision later vacated on procedural grounds, the Eighth Circuit held in Hunt v. Roth that the categorical sex-offender exception set forth in Nebraska's constitution was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.
Bеcause it has been vacated, we do not, as the dissent implies, rely on Hunt in reaching our decision. See infra ¶¶44-45. This case presents a novel issue that we resolve based on Salerno. The dissent also chides us for "failing] to mention” that the Nebraska provision was upheld in Parker v. Roth,
. The dissent brands Arizona's scheme as "offense-based,” and argues that such an approach is inherently narrowly tailored. See, e.g., infra ¶¶29-31. The argument fails, however, because the Bail Reform Act was also "offense-based,” and it is quite clear that the mere designation of offenses was not enough to make the Act constitutional. Its other substantive elements were necessary to the Court's decision.
. Though it might be tempting to suggest that there is little harm in denying bail to those who have been shown likely to be convicted of particularly abhorrent crimes (and therefore will likely face substantial sentences), the denial of bail as a form of pretrial punishment is flatly prohibited as a matter of due process. Until convicted, all defendants stand innocent before the law. "It is axiomatic that '[d]ue process requires that a pretrial detainee not be punished.’ ” Schall v. Martin,
.The dissent objects that we spend "a great deal of time ... discussing” A.R.S. §13-3961(D). See infra ¶28. We merely point out that it applies to the petitioners in the absence of A.R.S. § 13-3961(A)(3) and that it contains all three elements required by Salerno,
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
¶ 24 Arizona’s procedure for denying bail has one sole purpose: protecting children
¶ 25 It bears repeating that in the context of bail, a defendant’s Due Process right to liberty is not absolute. United States v. Salerno,
¶ 26 Here, petitioners carry a heavy burden to show the challenged provisions are facially unconstitutional. Petitioners must show that “no set of circumstances exists under which the [provisions] would be valid,” Id. at 745,
¶ 27 The strict limitations placed on a facial validity challenge are based on the principal of judicial restraint: a court must be careful in striking down statutes with respect to factual applications that are not before it. Wash. State Grange v. Wash. State Republican Party,
¶ 28 The question presented in this case is whether the procedure for denying bail set forth in Article 2, Section 22(A)(1) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. § 13-3961(A)(3) is constitutional. Althоugh the majority devotes a great deal of time to discussing § 13-3961(D), neither party has challenged or raised that statute in them briefs. This is not surprising, since § 13-3961(D) provides for different bail procedures than § 13-3961(A)(3), and, despite some overlap, applies to different crimes. See A.R.S. § 13-3961(D). Thus, I leave the construction of § 13-3961(D) for another day, and focus on the provisions at issue here.
¶ 29 The express purpose of Article 2, Section 22(A)(1) and § 13-3961(A)(3) is to protect victims and the community. Ariz. Const, art. 2, § 22 (“The purposes of bail and any conditions of release that are set by a judicial officer include ... [protecting the safety of the victim, any other person or the community.”); A.R.S. § 13-3961(B)(3) (same). As the majority concedes, this purpose is regulatory, not punitive. Salerno,
¶ 30 Arizona’s procedure is based on the presumption that defendants who commit a very narrow category of serious offenses pose a danger to the community. Thus, in Simpson I we held that by denying bail to defendants who commit sexual conduct with children under 15, “the Arizona Legislature and voters have ... weighed ‘the gravity of the nature of the offense in order to sustain a denial of a fundamental right,’ ” and limited denial of bail “to crimes that involve inherent and continuing risks if bail were granted.” Simpson I,
¶ 31 Arizona’s offense-based procedure has two components. First, it applies to defendants charged with extremely serious crimes. Ariz. Const, art. 2, § 22(A)(1); A.R.S. § 13-3961(A)(3); see Simpson I,
¶32 The second component of Arizona’s procedure requires the court to hold an evi-dentiary hearing to determine whether the “proof is evident, or presumption grеat” the defendant committed “one of the offenses enumerated in A.R.S. § 13-3961(A).” Simpson I,
¶ 33 There is nothing novel or new about Arizona’s offense-based approach to denying bail. As the majority notes, thirty-three states use the same offense-based approach for capital offenses. See, supra, at ¶16 n. 7. This procedure has been in place for capital crimes since colonial times, and has been employed by Arizona since statehood. Simpson I,
¶34 This offense-based approach to bail has not been limited to murder. Historically, non-bailable capital offenses included a broad range of serious crimes. See Simpson I,
¶35 Additionally, several states currently employ an offense-based procedure for non-capital offenses where conviction carries a severe punishment. See Penn. Const, art. 1, § 14 (nо bond for crimes where maximum punishment is life imprisonment and the proof is evident or the presumption great); Ill. Const, art. 1, § 9 (same); see also Or. Const, art. 1, § 14 (murder and treason are non-bailable offenses where the “proof is evident, or the presumption strong”); Fwrgal, 13 A3d at 279-80 (holding that New Hampshire statute denying bail for crime of second degree murder, which is punishable by life in prison, does not violate due process). In addition, both Nebraska and Arizona use this procedure for certain sex offenses. See Neb. Const., art. 1, § 9 (categorically excepts from bail “sexual offenses involving penetration by force or against the will of the victim”).
¶ 36 In Demore v. Kim,
¶ 37 In short, Arizona’s offense-based procedure falls within a well-established framework that has been used throughout the United States for many years. Furgal,
¶38 The majority argues, however, that Arizona’s offense-based procedure violates the due process protections mandated by the Supreme Court in Salerno. I disagree. The primary issue addressed in Salerno was whether the Due Process Clause prohibits denial of bail on the grounds of dangerousness. Salerno,
¶ 39 While Salerno does discuss the specific procedures contained in the Bail Reform Act, it does not stаte that every single one of these procedures is mandated under the Due Process Clause. We certainly did not adopt that position in Simpson I, and other courts have not interpreted Salerno so broadly. See Simpson I,
¶40 We recognized the limited scope of Salerno in Simpson I. After considering the procedures of the Bail Reform Act discussed in Salerno, we held that not all of these procedures were necessary “for the Arizona law to comply with procedural due process,” and that an individualized determination as
¶ 41 The majority seeks to limit our holding in Simpson I. It contends that Simpson I only explains Arizona’s requirements for a no bond hearing, and that our sole focus was to determine the propеr burden of proof for denying bail. The majority, however, reads Simpson I too narrowly.
¶ 42 In Simpson I we discussed Salerno at length, noting that it “addressed both substantive and procedural due process” challenges to the Bail Reform Act. Simpson I,
¶ 43 If Simpson I were not clear enough, in Segura we addressed the following question: “the application of the requirements of due process to Arizona’s procedures relating to arrest and release of defendants who may not be entitled to bail.” Segura,
¶ 44 The majority notes that Hunt v. Roth,
¶ 45 More importantly, Hunt I is not very persuasive authority. Hunt I states that Nebraska’s provision denying bail violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against excessive bail. Id. at 1162,1165. This argument is not even raised by Petitioners in this case, and for good reason: our court has expressly held that Arizona’s no bond provision does not violate the Eighth Amendment. Romley v. Rayes,
¶ 46 The majority relies heavily on Lopez-Valenzuela v. Arpaio,
¶ 47 In concluding that Arizona’s procedure is overbroad, the majority speculates about factual scenarios where the weight of the evidence may show that a defendant committed sexual conduct with a minor, but the specific circumstances of the crime do not show the defendant is dangerous. Thus, the majority concludes, “not every defendant” charged with this crime is in fact dangerous, and therefore the Arizona procedure “cannot serve in every case as a reliable proxy for unmanageable ... risk.”
¶48 The flaw in this analysis is that it turns the standard for a facial challenge on its head. To sustain Arizona’s provisions against a facial challenge, “we need only find them ‘adequate to authorize the pretrial detention of at least some [persons] charged with crimes,’ whether or not they might be insufficient in some particular circumstances.” Salerno,
¶ 49 As for the majority’s characterization of the role of the trial judge in a no bond hearing as “ornamental” and having to “turn a blind eye to the individual facts” of a case, I strongly disagree. In truth, the trial judge’s authority to determine whether the proof is evident or the presumption great, with the benefit of a full-blown adversary hearing, is a powerful due process protection.
¶ 50 The majority argues that it does not decide whether offense-based approaches to bail are constitutional, and that this issue remains an open question. However, one wonders how any offense-based approach can survive a facial challenge under the majority’s analysis. Such provisions, which are now in jeopardy, have been in place in America for over 200 years. The majority notes, in passing, that denying bail for capital offenses, and (possibly) other non-capital offenses may be constitutional. Of course, this begs the question of why Arizona’s provision violates due process with respect to a defendant who sexually abuses a child.
. Sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15 is classified as а "dangerous crime against children," and for each act and each victim, a defendant faces a mandatory, flat time presumptive prison term of 20 years; the minimum prison sentence is 13 years, and the maximum prison sentence is 27 years, A.R.S. § 13—705(C), (H), (P)(1)(c). Each count must be served consecutively, and at the completion of a prison sentence a defendant faces potential commitment to the Arizona State Hospital as a sexually violent person for an indefinite period of time. A.R.S. § 13-705(M); A.R.S. § 36-3701, et. seq.
. In practice, Arizona’s offense-based approach addresses the same factors in determining dangerousness as a traditional bond hearing. A.R.S. § 13-3967(B). For example, one factor that bears on dangerousness at a bond hearing is the nature and circumstances of the offense. A.R.S. § 13-3967(B)(2). Arizona’s no bond procedure incorporates this factor into the evidentiaiy hearing; indeed, it doеs so far better than the typical bond hearing, where the prosecutor stands up in court and makes avowals about the offense. See A.R.S. § 13-3967(H) (evidence offered at a bond hearing "need not conform” to the rules of evidence); Ariz. R. Crim. P. 7.4(c) (same). Another factor, the "weight of evidence against the accused,” is clearly considered at a no bond hearing. A.R.S. § 13-3967(B)(6). Apart from the defendant’s criminal history, the remaining statutory bond factors have little relevance in assessing a defendant's dangerousness', rather, these factors go to whether a defendant is a flight risk. See A.R.S, § 13—3967(B)(7) (defendant’s family ties, employment, financial resources, character and mental condition); -3967(B) (11) (length of residency in the community); -3967(B) (13) (record of appearance in court). Although the defendant’s criminal history is not a factor in a no bond hearing, the absence of this factor does not prejudice a defendant, particularly when he has a criminal history. A.R.S. § 13-3967(B)(3), (12),
