By: Daniella Doria
A Siena College survey has found that, a total of 56 percent of voters in the Empire State believe the 2019 bail reform has been bad for New York compared to 30 percent who said it was good policy, according to The New York Post.
“Nearly two-thirds of voters — 64 percent — think the law has resulted in an increase in crime, compared to 24 percent who said it hasn’t. The poll asked 804 voters if the law approved in 2019 should be amended to give judges more discretion to post cash bail based on the severity of the alleged crime or criminal history of a defendant. A staggering 82 percent of voters said judges should be given more authority to post bail for more defendants, compared to 11 percent who were opposed.”
A majority, 56 percent of voters were also concerned that tightening up the bail law will result in poor people or minorities being unfairly imprisoned pending trial. Blacks and Latinos particularly expressed reservations about potential abuses. Only 29 percent of voters were not worried about unfair detentions” according to The New York Post.
“As the Post first reported, Hochul quietly submitted a ten-point public safety plan to the legislative leader that includes making more crimes bail eligible — including gun offenses, repeat offenses, and hate-based attacks and law-breaking in the subway.”
Locally, in the city though, Carl Campanile of The New York Post writes, “Mayor Eric Adams has called for a tougher bail law that includes taking into account the dangerous or criminal record of an accuser. But Democrats in the legislature — particularly Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Yonkers) — have been reluctant to make major changes to the bail law they championed. They and other supporters of the law argue that limited data shows that the no-cash bail law has had little to no impact on rising crime rates while allowing defendants to remain free pending trial.”
A perceived surge in crime in New York City and on the subway has caused, ““Nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers – including at least 60% of Republicans, independents, voters from every region, and white and Latino voters, as well as majorities of Democratic and Black voters – say the bail law has resulted in an increase in crime,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. And an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers, including at least 72% of voters of every party, region and race, say the law should be amended to give judges more discretion to set bail.”