News: New York Bail Reform
View excerpts and links to media stories related to the Bail Reform issue in the state of New York. All news article link to their respective news sources.
Crime has risen under the watch of Soros-backed prosecutors in six major cities
At least six large cities have seen crime spikes after the election of liberal prosecutors backed by groups that have received funding from billionaire megadonor George Soros, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found. Motor vehicle thefts, homicides or both have surged in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Louis and New York since liberal prosecutors were elected with the help of funding from Soros.
The Jewish Voice
Four in 10 Bail Reform Release Program Participants Rearrested, State Stats Show
City Hall expanded supervised release to create an alternative to Rikers Island and ensure defendants show up for trial. The number being rearrested far exceeds projections.
The City
Republicans Call For Repeal of Bail Reform Laws
Republican leaders in New York State are calling on Democrats to repeal bail reform laws. Republican lawmakers gathered in Albany this past week to point out that crime has risen sharply in the state since new bail reform laws went into effect and half of those released on bail are rearrested for another crime.
WBGO-TV
NYC bail reform beneficiaries rearrested for felonies at higher rate than city projections
Accused New York City criminals who were freed as part of a state release program were rearrested for felony crimes at a higher rate than originally estimated, statistics show. New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) estimated that in 2018, 9% of criminal offenders who were released as part of the state’s “non-monetary release” program, which began in 2016, were rearrested for felony crimes. The city’s felony re-arrest estimates reached 10% in 2019 and 13% the year after.
Fox News
Cayuga County Sheriff says bail reform hurts many of those it’s designed to help
While the political debate over bail reform rages through Albany, Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck says some of the people hurt the most by the policy are the repeat offenders themselves. He says in Cayuga County, many repeat offenders are substance abusers.
Fingerlakes1.com
Letter: Christmas tree arson shows folly of New York bail reform
The nation continues to endure the carnage resulting from “progressive” criminal justice reform. Murders increased 30% nationwide, 17 cities (including Rochester) report highest-ever yearly homicide totals, and screens are filled with images of out-of-control group looting of stores in California.
Buffalo News
‘Teflon con’ who loves bail reform is back in custody for more alleged burglaries
The alleged serial burglar who’s taken full advantage of the state’s “great” bail reform laws by knocking over a slew of Big Apple businesses has landed back in custody, police said Wednesday. Charles Wold was busted Tuesday on charges he broke into three more places last month in Park Slope, pocketing money from cash registers and a lock box, according to cops.
Report Door
Opinion: Missouri’s criminal justice system reforms are a disaster
It’s hard to beat the arrogance of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who actually admitted back in 2007 that his low-bail policies would someday see a beneficiary “go out and kill somebody.” Though “it’s guaranteed to happen,” he argued, “it does not invalidate the overall approach.”
Olean Times Herald
No, jails aren’t filled with people on minor charges – there’s a reason we have bail
Who’s in jail? Three Democratic members of Congress — New York’s Carolyn Maloney and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Maryland’s Jamie Raskin — want you to think that Rikers Island is filled with innocent souls too poor to make bail.
New York Post
New York man robs woman at knifepoint, is released without bail, steals from another woman hours later: police
A New York City man was arrested for allegedly robbing a woman at knifepoint in the subway on Nov. 22, was released hours later without bail and then proceeded to steal an iPhone from another woman on the subway the next morning, officials said.
Fox News
Angelino Calling for Repeal of Dangerous Bail “Reform” Provisions
Assemblyman Joseph Angelino (R,C,I-Norwich) joined Assemblyman John Salka (R,C,I-Brookfield), crime victims and law enforcement calling for the repeal of bail reform. Angelino shared his experience as a retired police chief and discussed how the law passed by progressive downstate legislators has negatively impacted public safety.
Binghampton
NYC’s top cop warns steep decline in Rikers Island population is fueling crime wave and slams bail reform after criminal who attacked officer is let out just HOURS later
New York City’s top cop is warning that a steep drop in the inmate population at Rikers Island is fueling an unrelenting crime wave in the Big Apple. He also slammed bail reform laws after a criminal who attacked a cop on Sunday was released just hours later.
Daily Mail
Bail Reform Allowed Suspect To Stab Innocent Victim, Suffolk Sheriff Says
A knife-wielding Long Island man, a suspect in a recent stabbing in New York City, had recently been released from jail in Suffolk County due to bail reform, according to Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. Quandale Linton, age 26, of Hauppauge, was arrested on Wednesday, March 10, in the parking lot of the First District Court in Central Islip following the attack, said the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.
Nassau Daily Voice
NYC judge has another teen he went easy on re-arrested
A Bronx judge with a history of dumping suspected violent criminals back on the street saw his kid-glove bail stance backfire again last week — when a teen charged with nearly killing an 80-year-old veteran was back behind bars after being busted with a loaded gun.
New York Post
Hochul opens the door to bail reform changes
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday opened the door to potential changes to the state’s controversial bail reform law that went into effect last year, saying she’d work with the Legislature to see if part of the statute should be amended. Hochul did not say if she, personally, wanted to make changes to the law, but said she would be open to talks on the issue when lawmakers return to Albany in January.
WRVO
Fixing NYC’s host of botched criminal-justice ‘reforms’ needs an entire political movement
Mayor-elect Eric Adams has vowed to restore the NYPD’s plainclothes anti-gun unit, as well as to push the Legislature to fix the no-bail law to let judges send dangerous perps to jail. But far more needs doing, all across the criminal-justice system, after years of ill-conceived reform.
New York Post
New York Under Siege Thanks to Mayor deBlasio and Bail Reform
Opinion: Thanks to Mayor deBlasio and New York’s lapse on criminals, sucker-punch assaults known as the knock out game are on the rise. This new form of attack on New Yorkers is escalating especially in Midtown Manhattan, Chelsea and the Upper West Side. Thanks to our Mayor’s anti-police and anti-accountability laws New York is turning into the wild wild west. Bail reform, eliminated cash bail and the recent cut of the NYPD budget by $1 billion has left the city vulnerable.
Times Square Chronicle
Chemung Co. Sheriff: Accused Burglar And Repeat Offender Released Under Bail Reform Law
The Chemung County Sheriff explains some of the challenges they face with the state’s bail reform and what they’re seeing firsthand a year after the law took effect. Bail reform was an effort designed to level the playing field mostly for people who couldn’t afford bail and felt they were unfairly locked up.
WENY-TV
Man charged with attacking undercover Asian NYPD cop released without bail
The man charged with trying to shove an Asian undercover cop onto Queens subway tracks was cut loose without bail Sunday — as the judge claimed, “My hands are tied.” Suspect Ricardo Hernandez, 32 — who faces three hate-crime charges in the attack on the unnamed cop on a Long Island City train platform around 5:30 p.m. Saturday — has at least 12 prior arrests under his belt.
New York Post
Rape suspect freed from jail amid COVID-19 allegedly kills accuser
A Virginia rape suspect was released from jail over coronavirus concerns – and then shot dead his accuser, authorities say. Ibrahim E. Bouaichi, 33, of Greenbelt, Md., had been indicted on charges of rape, strangulation and abduction after Karla Dominguez, a native of Venezuela, told cops in Alexandria, Va., that he sexually assaulted her in October, the Washington Post said.
New York Post
Malik Evans to examine bail reform in effort to fight ongoing violence in Rochester
Rochester Mayor-Elect Malik Evans will take over the top office at city hall in just a few weeks. He says there is a lot of work going on already before he gets there. Violence in Rochester is the number one issue he’s focused on.
Spectrum News
Former Monroe County prosecutor: Bail reform ‘isn’t working’
A coat lay on the the sidewalk outside a Lyell Avenue apartment last March 12. It belonged to a mail carrier who used it to try to smother the flames on Steven Amenhauser’s body.
WHAM-TV
NYPD officials blast bail reform laws after suspect who attacked officers is released
At a press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea expressed his frustration over the decision to release Quaran Campbell without bail, after Campbell was seen on video and body camera knocking a police officer unconscious who later required eight staples to the head, fracturing the orbital bones of a lieutenant and punching NYPD Chief Terence Monahan during a unity march followed by a counter-protest on the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday.
Fox5 New York
NYPD commissioner bashes city leaders as ‘cowards’ in police brass meeting: ‘They are failing at every possible measure to be leaders’
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea’s blue blood boiled when he called City Hall leaders “cowards” who “who won’t stand up for what’s right” and “don’t have a goddamn clue what they’re talking about” at a meeting of Police Department brass last week. “They are failing at every possible measure to be leaders, and they throw it on the backs of the men and women of this police department, and curse them with one hand and then blame them with the other,” Shea said Thursday at a weekly CompStat meeting, at which top police officials discuss crime data.
New York Daily News
NYPD brass: We’re arresting too many prisoners on early COVID release
Hundreds of prisoners released early from Rikers due to COVID concerns are being enabled to re-offend again and again without consequences, law enforcement leaders say. “We’re continuing to see people get arrested over and over and let right back out. And it really defies common sense,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said in an interview with NBC New York.
NBC4 New York
Horseheads’ man arrested twice in two weeks in connection to car thefts, released on bail reform law.
HORSEHEADS, N.Y. (WETM)
Reginald Ferguson of Horseheads has been arrested following two separate car theft investigations over the course of two weeks.
The ‘fixes’ to New York’s no-bail law don’t do nearly enough
The New York Post
New York is the epicenter of America’s COVID-19 crisis, but it’s also the focal point of the national debate about reducing jail populations through bail reform. The pandemic has renewed calls to cut incarceration further, which may reinvigorate the bail-reform movement. But it’s important to remember that this public health crisis is temporary, while the risks of bad bail reform will be lasting.
NYPD Stats Show Notable Jump in Crime So Far This Year
New York Post
Serious crime has spiked in the Big Apple — with a 20 percent jump over the first two months of the year compared to 2019, according to NYPD statistics. There was a 35 percent jump in robberies citywide, to 2,499 this year from 1,853 in 2019, and a 64 percent leap in stolen cars. Shootings where at least one person was injured went up 19 percent over the first two months of the year after a nearly 30 percent jump in January compared to last year.
Kelly: Bail Reform Was ‘Height of Arrogance’ by State Lawmakers
New York Post
Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly blasted state bail reform, saying the legislature “shoved” the reform law “down the public’s throat.” “The passage of this bail reform act really was the height of arrogance on the part of the New York State Legislature,” Kelly told host John Catsimatidis on AM 970’s The Cats Roundtable.
Support for bail reform law is shrinking, poll finds
The Daily Gazette
Public support for the state new law that eliminates cash bail for many crimes has eroded in the last month, according to a new Siena Research Institute poll. The poll released recently found that 59% of registered voters now think the law is bad for New York state, up from 49% who felt that way a month ago.
I-Team: Is New York’s bail bonds industry pushing back on bail reform?
WKBW-TV
New York State leaders are debating tweaks in the recent bail reform legislation after criticism that some repeat offenders have committed crimes after leaving the courthouse. “This needs to change,” State Sen. Patrick Gallivan, R-Elma, said at a recent hearing. “We’re going in the wrong direction.” “The danger is, some of these individuals are re-offending,” added Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone.
Third Bank Robbery
News 12 Long Island
Police are searching for a homeless man who they say has repeatedly robbed banks in Nassau County, New York. Authorities say 40-year-old Romell Nellis walked inside the Roslyn Savings Bank, handed the teller a note and demanded money. The suspect then took off with the cash and is still on the loose. However, investigators say they know exactly who he is because Nellis has done this before.
‘Reform the Reform’ — Judges Call for Changes to State Bail Law
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The supervising judge of Bronx Criminal Court criticized New York’s new bail reform Wednesday, advocating for judicial discretion to remand defendants accused of misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes, while denouncing a perceived lack of input from judges and prosecutors in developing the law. Speaking at a forum, Judge George Grasso outlined his criticism of the reform measure, which took effect Jan. 1.
Bail Reform Robs Judges of Discretional Power
The New Paltz Oracle
The ripple effect of New York State’s new bail reform law has officially reached New Paltz. On Sunday, Jan. 19, Ruben Ortiz, 35, was arrested for a domestic dispute, released under the bail reform law and arrested again just 20 minutes after his court appearance. The New Paltz Police were called to a home in New Paltz Gardens on Colonial Drive in response to a physical domestic dispute. When police arrived at approximately 7:20 p.m., Ortiz began fighting with police and resisting arrest.
Nassau’s Top Cop Says New Law May Have Led to Victim’s Deadly Beating at Hands of MS-13
WCBS-TV
Nassau County (New York) Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said legal changes may have left the victim of a brutal attack at the hands of suspected MS-13 gang members exposed. Ryder said a 36-year-old man was found bludgeoned to death in the back of an abandoned home. “The system failed. The system failed. This man is dead,” Ryder said. “This law is not helping us.”
End of Bail Reform? Rensselaer County Demands State Leaders Suspend Bail Reform Law
CBS 6 Albany
The Rensselaer County (New York) Legislature has introduced a resolution that calls on state leaders to immediately suspend and amend the controversial bail reform laws. “Every day we hear more stories about criminals being arrested, being released the same day, and committing more crimes shortly thereafter. It doesn’t make sense,” said Chairman Michael Stammel.
Brooklyn DA Demands Changes to Controversial Bail Reform Laws
WCBS-TV
There is a stunning demand for changes to the state’s controversial bail reform laws from one of the most liberal district attorneys in New York. It comes as Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez copes with a spike in shootings, even as he arrests dozens of gang members involved in gun cases. It’s an alarming video showing picture after picture of members of two rival Brownsville, Brooklyn, gangs shooting at each other.
End of Bail Reform? Rensselaer County Demands State Leaders Suspend Bail Reform Law
CBS 6 Albany
The Rensselaer County (New York) Legislature has introduced a resolution that calls on state leaders to immediately suspend and amend the controversial bail reform laws. “Every day we hear more stories about criminals being arrested, being released the same day, and committing more crimes shortly thereafter. It doesn’t make sense,” said Chairman Michael Stammel.
Bail Reform Opponents Hold Protest at New York Capitol
Times Herald-Record
Orange County (New York) District Attorney David Hoovler and three Republican assemblymen representing areas of Orange County took part in a large rally in Albany in opposition to the state’s elimination of bail for many crimes while suspects are awaiting trial. Police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and Republican lawmakers held the protest in the Capitol to denounce bail reforms that took effect on Jan. 1 and have allowed more defendants to avoid jail.
Judge Issues Order Challenging State’s Bail Reform Law
Times Union
Cohoes (New York) City Court Judge Thomas Marcelle issued an order challenging the constitutionality of the state’s bail-reform statutes, setting up the first legal battle over a new law that removed judges’ discretion to require a defendant to post cash in order to assure their return to court. Invoking the case of a man who has for years repeatedly failed to make court appearances in multiple counties, Marcelle issued a 12-page decision.
NYC’s Criminal Justice Reforms Have some Prosecutors Looking for the Door
New York Post
The union that represents rank-and-file police officers in a New York town said its members played a game of catch and release with a suspect after he was arrested three times in one day and let go because of the state’s new bail-reform law. Scott Nolan was first arrested last Monday at 9 a.m. in Troy on suspicion of shoplifting and given a court appearance ticket, WRBG-TV in Albany reported. At 2:30 p.m., he was arrested again for an alleged assault and again released.
New York Man Arrested 3x in 1 Day
Fox News
The union that represents rank-and-file police officers in a New York town said its members played a game of catch and release with a suspect after he was arrested three times in one day and let go because of the state’s new bail-reform law. Scott Nolan was first arrested last Monday at 9 a.m. in Troy on suspicion of shoplifting and given a court appearance ticket, WRBG-TV in Albany reported. At 2:30 p.m., he was arrested again for an alleged assault and again released.
