In New York it kinda surprised everyone…
Bail has always cut two ways…
It’s primary purpose is to keep the accused from disappearing after an arrest ….
But?
Holding people strains the system …
Judges are aways weighing holding people vs overtaxing the system that is invisible to the public but not to the judges…
So?
The national move to cut bail for some low level crimes has gained steam ….
Corrections/Jail facilities got a breather….
Some people where very happy…
But then something changed…
As the media spotlighted how some judges had their discretion removed by new laws?
Things began to slip thru the cracks…
Some people arrested for serious crimes (NY lawmakers made the list of crimes that became no-bail ones) got arrested, but let go for later court dates…And some of them went out and got arrested AGAIN for committing more crimes…
Then police began telling the media , which began telling the public, that no-bail was encouraging some criminals, (not all) that they could keep break-in the law at will….
The very people who where happy with the less incarcerations began to lose support at a seemingly revolving door for people who do bad things….
Politician’s and lawmakers have become aware that they have a problem and have begun too have second thoughts on how to make adjustments to the problems…
To bail-reform advocates across America, this change is a no-brainer: Why incarcerate anyone, pandemic or no, just because they can’t post a cash bond? Their movement looked like a national wave just a couple of years ago, as states from Vermont and New Jersey to Alaska and Georgia rolled out new bail policies to reduce the number of people in jail. These ideas ranged from minor tweaks for only the lowest-level crimes to blanket eliminations of cash bail.
But just a few months ago, before the outbreak, that momentum hit a major roadblock. One of the most high-profile tests of bail reform, in New York state, sparked a political backlash and sent advocates into damage-control mode. In 2019, the New York Legislature passed one of the most progressive bail-reform packages in the United States, abolishing bail for many misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes. Soon after the law went into effect, in January 2020, the New York Police Department released figures showing a spike in crime and pointed the finger at the new, looser bail rules.
The crime figures have been disputed, but tabloid headlines and anti-reform prosecutors jumped at the chance to fan the flames, and the new bail policiesinstantly lost popularity. The percentage of New Yorkers saying the changes would be good for the state dropped from 55 percent last year to 37 percent in January. Prominent politicians, including Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, backed a new bill to roll back many of the changes, which passed April 3.
Bail reformers across the country have been paying close attention. “New York is certainly a cautionary tale,” said Alec Karakatsanis, a reform advocate and executive director of the Civil Rights Corps, a criminal justice nonprofit that has filed lawsuits challenging bail in several states.
Now reformers across the country have begun regrouping and tweaking their plans in an effort to learn from past mistakes in bail reform packages, and looking hard at how to keep potential opponents in the fold. “Even if you win a great legislative battle against them,” said Karakatsanis, “it’s not like they’ll just go away.”
In SC bail on low level offenses is totally up the discretion of the Judge.
My experience has been that most people that have a bond set on them are those with fairly lengthy criminal records and a history of not appearing in court.
I oppose a system which says that all offenders should be granted an automatic release without judicial consideration.