This is something we've been fighting for a long time.
Say you get a traffic ticket and you want to fight it. You go to court and demand a trial, only to find that you have to pre-pay the fine as though you've already been found guilty. They don't call it a fine; they call it "bail," which is an out and out lie because you can't be incarcerated for a traffic offense. (Bail is a procedure for felonies and misdemeanors designed to ensure the defendant's attendance should they be found guilty and incarcerated.) The practice is flatly unconstitutional--and disproportionately affects the poor--but almost every California court does it. (Here's San Mateo, Orange and San Diego, just three examples.)
Well, this week brought some hope that the end is in sight. California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye asked the Judicial Council to draft a rule (an "expedited" rule, no less) making it clear to the courts of California that charging bail to get a traffic trial is illegal. The Judicial Council--which Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye leads--is the policy-making body of the California Courts.
Once the Judicial Council enacts the rule, traffic courts finally will have to stop this heinous practice.