Poll finds support waning for bail reform

A Siena College poll released Tuesday found declining support for recent changes to New York state’s bail law.

The new law — which eliminates bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies and lets suspects remain free while awaiting trail — has come under intense scrutiny as courts have released people who would have remained behind bars under the old rules.

The bail reforms went into effect at the beginning of the year.

The poll found 49 percent of respondents said the changes were bad for New York while 37 percent said they were good for the state.

Those results stand in contrast to last April, when 38 percent of respondents said the law would be bad for the state and 55 percent said it would be a positive move.

The new poll showed waning support for the bail reforms among Democrats, Republicans and Independents. About 53 percent of Democratic respondents said the law is good for New York, but that was an 11-point drop from Democrats polled last year.

The poll involved 814 registered voters in New York and was conducted by telephone from Jan. 11 to 16. The margin of error was 4.1 percentage points.

Backers of the law said the old rules unfairly punished poor people who could not afford to post bail and, as a result, stayed locked up before their trials for low-level crimes.

State Democrats have faced mounting pressure since the beginning of the year to make changes to the law, and some, including Mid-Hudson Valley Sens. Jen Metzger and James Skoufis, have agreed revisions are in order. Republicans, who argue the new law jeopardizes public safety, have called for a full repeal.