No bail = brutal backlash: Case study on NYC’s failed bail-reform law

Jack Wolfsohn of the National Review breaks down the Manhattan Institute’s report on New York City’s “bail-reform” legislation, active since 2019 (and which many of our county supes appear to agree with). In the name of halting mass incarceration and protecting minority communities (both highly dubious claims), NYC prohibits local judges from assigning pre-trial bail for most nonviolent felony offenses—including drug and robbery. The all-too-expected resulting crime spikes have spoken for themselves, says Wolfsohn. SCC residents have been forewarned. To receive daily updates of new Opp Now stories, click here.

New York State’s 2019 law, as the report explains, established a certain set of criminal charges, known as “qualifying offenses,” for which judges could set bail and hold a defendant in jail. Many crimes were excluded, among them residential burglaries, nearly all felony drug cases, and cases in which the defendant was charged with unarmed robbery while committing the crime with the help of another person. According to the 2019 law, judges could not hold defendants pending bail on almost all nonviolent felony offenses regardless of prior criminal record. Judges could not set bail on more than 350 crimes. Neither under the 2019 law nor with later amendments could the judge take into account the defendant’s likelihood of re-offending or the risk to public safety when determining release conditions.

The report explains how these measures contributed to crime and re-offending rates in New York City, covering the 2019 bail reform and 2020 and 2022 amendments. Simply put, the 2019 law put more criminal defendants awaiting trial back on the streets, where many broke more laws. By March 15, 2020, just two and a half months after the law went into effect and before Covid was a factor, crime rose 20.05 percent in New York City compared with the same period year-to-date in 2019, before the bail-reform law went into effect. Burglary rose 26.5 percent, robbery 33.9 percent, shooting incidents 22.9 percent, and car theft 68 percent. The only crimes to show decreases were murder and rape, for which judges could still set bail. 

This article originally appeared in the National Review. Read the whole thing here.

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