Opportunism is everything in politics. Too bad it’s not always accompanied by fact-based arguments.
The knee-jerk claims by many that New York state’s bail reform laws drive increases in violent crime are good examples of this. After the reforms, which prohibit cash bail for most nonviolent crimes, became law in 2019, claims quickly arose that they forced judges to release dangerous offenders.
However, not just one, but several subsequent studies – by the Albany Times-Union, the New York City Criminal Justice Agency and The Buffalo News, among others – indicate that there is no evidence that bail reform is linked to such increases.
As we know, however, politicians don’t always let facts get in their way. Last Thursday’s attack on Rep. Lee Zeldin, Republican challenger to Gov. Kathy Hochul in November’s election, provided a high-profile opportunity to renew demands for stricter bail laws. Thankfully, Zeldin and his aides stopped an assailant – who leaped onstage as the congressman was speaking – from doing any harm, but the repercussions in terms of a heightened assault on bail reform legislation won’t be quelled as easily.
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Zeldin has made tightening bail laws one of his central campaign issues and, on Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Robert G. Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, joined him in calling for rollbacks. Ort also demanded a special legislative session on bail law and gun violence.
Those attacking the bail reform laws are correct in deploring violent crime, but any efforts toward decreasing such crime and its root causes must be evidence-based or they won’t make a dent. And there is no evidence that bail reform has led to more violent crime.
Those who falsely stigmatize bail reform are also ignoring the issues that these laws were enacted to address. Many charged with nonviolent offenses were incarcerated because they couldn’t make bail and were being punished before they could be tried or convicted. Their only crime, thus far, was being poor.
Incarceration has profoundly disruptive effects on the lives of those who are jailed and is a major driver of economic inequity. Jails also strain the financial resources of the municipalities that run them. Bail reform was enacted to help address these real problems.
Unfortunately, the backlash against sensible and humane treatment of those accused of low-level crimes began almost immediately. It’s just been too easy to blame the new legislation for any spikes in violent crime, including high-profile incidents. This despite the fact that higher spikes in violent crime have been occurring across the U.S., mostly in states that have much harsher bail laws. This despite a lack of evidence for any connection.
The cynical use of bail reform as a scapegoat for violent crime only puts us farther away from data-driven policies that may actually make New York safer.
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