In a moment of real anxiety about public safety, the conversation on bail reform has become divorced from the data.
Dear New Yorkers,
Our city has gone through an immense amount of trauma over the course of the last two years. People are understandably anxious and afraid of what the future holds. But, the truth is fear and anxiety are not good places from which to craft public policy. That’s why this week my office released a report ([link removed]) analyzing what the data says about the 2019 bail reforms.
The conversation on bail reform has become divorced from the data. Some have sought to scapegoat these historic civil rights reforms to explain a rise in crime. But the numbers in this new report tell the real story: there has been essentially no change in the number or share of people rearrested while released pretrial before and after the implementation of the 2019 bail reforms.
Help us ground the conversation in the facts by spreading #FactsNotFear. ([link removed])
While judges set bail in 14,545 cases in calendar year 2021, down from 24,657 in 2019, defendants and their friends and family still posted $268 million in bail, up from $186 million in 2020. Despite new requirements to consider the ability of defendants to pay in cases where bail still applies, a full two years into implementation, the 2019 reforms have neither made bail more affordable nor prevented incarceration for those still subject to bail setting. Bail continues to drive pretrial detention and siphon money from low-income communities of color.
Even as the number of people subject to bail has declined, there has been no increase in the number or percentage of people who are rearrested for a new offense while awaiting trial in the community. In January 2019, 95% of people awaiting trial in the community were not rearrested that month, while that proportion rose slightly to 96% in December 2021. Both before and after bail reform, fewer than 1% of people released pretrial, either through bail or otherwise, were rearrested on a violent felony charge each month.
Rather than roll back critical reforms, I’m joining advocates to urge Albany legislators to strengthen implementation and invest in programs that prevent crime and promote community safety.
Albany should make public policy based on #FactsNotFear. Click here to share the facts. ([link removed])
Our report makes recommendations for how the New York State Office of Court Administration (OCA) can strengthen implementation of the reforms to ensure that judges follow the requirements to consider a defendant’s ability to pay and make use of alternatives to predatory bail bonds to ensure that people return to court. The amount of money someone has in their bank account should not determine how the law treats them.
To significantly curtail the use of pretrial detention, New York should also advance strategies that prevent crime and involvement in the criminal legal system, by investing in programs that promote stability and safety and create economic opportunity, such as mental health care, substance use prevention and treatment, affordable housing, youth programming, and quality education.
Now is not the time to roll back the progress we’ve made towards equal justice.
Brad
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