Get facts before reforms

From the start of the debate over criminal justice reform in New York, some people were simply against any substantive change. And with little more evidence than they had two years ago, they continue to oppose it.

Gun violence going up? Blame bail reform — even though it’s happening in states that didn’t enact bail reform, too. A judge lets a defendant loose three times in one day? Blame bail reform and call for more judicial discretion — even though bail reform gave that judge the discretion to hold the defendant after the second arrest. Can’t find a substantive issue to run for office on? Blame bail reform.

This wouldn’t be so troubling if these weak arguments didn’t seem to be gaining traction in a society anxious about shootings and among politicians looking to give the appearance of doing something. We’re not talking about hard-line law-and-order types who opposed reform from the outset, or police and district attorneys whose jobs got harder when they could no longer hold over a defendant’s head long, financially crushing detention before trial to strongarm them into making sometimes false confessions and taking pleas. They were never going to emaccording

brace reform.

We’re talking about fairly progressive folks like Gov. Kathy Hochul, who last week suggested she might be open to tweaking the reforms, if the Legislature offers a proposal. Her statement — that she wanted to “first of all protect public safety” but also “ensure that we have a system of true justice for all individuals” — may have been noncommittal, but it no doubt heartened those who would roll back the reforms to have her open the door.

Then there was Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who said there’s “enough data now that there’s been identified some opportunities to take a look at bail reform so that we can get it right.”

What data, we wonder, is the mayor referring to? The data that shows that between 2019, when bail reform passed, and 2020, when it took effect, there was no change in the rate of violent crime committed by people released and awaiting trial in New York City, to Vital NYC, an advocacy group? Or statewide data on people rearrested after being released that has no detail on the charges against them? Or comparable data prior to bail reform— that doesn’t exist?

The debate over bail reform — and other reforms like raising the age at which young people can be tried as adults or not sending people on parole back to prison for minor violations — has been rife with disinformation. And yes, we realize that people are concerned about a rise in violent crime. But the real culprits may be found elsewhere in less cut-and-dried explanations — like all the complex stresses of a pandemic that has had a devastating economic and emotional impact on many people, leaving them uncertain where their next paycheck is coming from, or if going to work will kill them, or whether they’ll soon be homeless — stresses that have fueled the surge in illicit drug use and overdoses.

Before politicians anxious to appease an uneasy public go grasping for solutions, it’s essential that they get some facts. That’s what Governor Hochul and the Legislature should be seeking — a thorough, honest, dispassionate study of the effects of criminal justice reform — not quick fixes that may fix nothing at all, and only make our criminal justice system less just.