Serino leads charge to revise NY bail reform
ALBANY, N.Y. >> State Sen. Sue Serino is co-sponsoring legislation that would alter state bail reforms set to take effect Jan. 1.
Two bills — sponsored by Serino, R-Hyde Park, and Sen. Patrick Gallivan, R-Elmira — would allow judges to consider an arrestee’s dangerousness when deciding bail, and expand what crimes are considered domestic abuse offenses for the purpose of setting bail.
The GOP legislation faces an uphill battle, though, because the Legislature is controlled by Democrats who approved the bail reform, which was green-lighted by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The bail law, passed earlier this year, eliminates pretrial detention and money bail for the wide majority of misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases. The move is expected to curtail the number of people held in jail while awaiting trial.
Serino said lawmakers rushed the reforms and “failed to consider the very real danger that these sweeping changes will have on communities.”
Reform supporters argue the bail law will prevent poor people from languishing in jail for lowlevel crimes while their cases work through the system. They also say it will create a fairer system and
stop prosecutors from using incarceration to pressure a defendant into a plea agreement. Being free also allows a person to better prepare for their case, advocates say.
New York’s bail law recently caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who tweeted that Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, also a Democrat, are letting out criminals, “some hardened & bad, onto the sidewalks of our rapidly declining” city.
At a press conference on Thursday in Albany, opponents to the bail law argued it will leave domestic abuse victims vulnerable and give arrestees an opportunity to reoffend.
“When we go from zero to 100, we are completely leaving out victims,” Gallivan said. “We’re completely leaving out communities.”
Amy Jones, a community organizer with Citizen Action of New York, accused Republicans of fearmongering.