CITY HALL -- Moderate Democrats in Albany are teaming up to try to make changes to the state’s controversial bail reform law.
That group includes Island state Sen. Diane Savino, who co-sponsored legislation introduced by Long Island Democrat James Gaughran, that would give judges more discretion to determine whether a criminal defendant should be held in custody or be required to post bail or bond as a condition of pretrial release.
As of Jan. 1, cash bail has been eliminated for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, including most drug offenses, in the state of New York. The reforms were passed as part of the state budget in April.
Under the law, bail was eliminated for all misdemeanor charges, with the exceptions of sex offenses and criminal contempt for violating an order of protection in a domestic violence case.
Bail and pretrial detention are also scrapped for nearly all nonviolent felonies, with the exceptions being witness intimation or tampering, murder conspiracy, contempt charges involving domestic violence and some offenses against children, sex charges and terrorism-related offenses.
“There should be some discretion given to judges to make determinations about public safety,” Savino said. “Every other state that has done bail reform has included that, we need to fix this”
“We’re going to aggressively push to have that [legislation] adopted as soon as possible and we’re going to get pushback from people who say we are fear mongering or we’re trying to turn the clock back on bail reform and the answer to that is no, we can accomplish bail reform and still give judges discretion in particular cases and that’s all people are suggesting,” the senator continued.
Fellow Island Democrats and Republicans have also taken issue with the new bail reform law.
Island District Attorney Michael McMahon has warned that the new law will allow prosecutors to seek bail and detention for only a handful of drug defendants, those specifically charged with “operating as a major trafficker.”
The Island’s DA has also said he is even more concerned about releasing witnesses’ and victims’ names and contact information to the defense in the early stages of the case. That information typically had been turned over shortly before the start of trial.
In the coming days, McMahon’s office said it plans to launch a public awareness campaign about the new bail reform law to inform the public about how it will affect public safety. They are also urging constituents to ask the governor and state Legislature to make changes to the laws.
On Friday, McMahon is also meeting with local Island elected officials, police and community leaders during his annual legislative breakfast where they will be discussing a number of issues including bail reform.
South Shore Republican elected officials Assemblyman Michael Reilly and Councilman Joe Borelli have been vocal critics of the law.
Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore) recently penned a letter to Cuomo’s office asking the governor to issue an executive order that would suspend the provisions of the bail reform law for 30 days, giving the state Legislature time to reconvene and amend the law.
Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis has also been very critical of the new law. She has organized a petition against the reform and voiced her opposition to top lawmakers.
“Instead of leaving a law in place that puts the public at risk, the governor should halt it to allow for public hearings to collect the input of legal experts and law enforcement so it can be replaced with a responsible law that ensures the right to a speedy trial, considers criminal history and dangerousness, restores judicial discretion and protects witnesses," Malliotakis said.
So far, Attorney General Letitia James, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Senate Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins said that they are open to revisiting some of the provisions in the law like discretion to set bail.
Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called the bail law a “work in progress.”
“Bail reform is right. But changing the system is complicated and then has a number of ramifications," the the Daily News reported the governor as saying during a Manhattan event this week. "There is no doubt this is still a work in progress. And there are other changes that need to be made.”
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