As of Jan. 1, when New York State’s controversial new bail reform laws took effect, 301 inmates in Suffolk County jails had been released. The new laws, which mandate that those charged with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies be released without bail following arraignment, have triggered anger across the state as people accused of serious crimes walk free.
“Judges used to have some discretion on whether or not an individual should be held on bail,” said Suffolk County Sherriff Errol D. Toulon Jr., a Democrat, in announcing the figure yesterday. He has called for the State Legislature to amend or repeal the bail reform laws, pushed through by Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. “Now, it is black and white — no bail for these crimes, regardless of the impact to the community,” Mr. Toulon said. “The offender will be given a court date and told to come back to court.”
How many actually will return remains to be seen.
Bail — whether $50 or hundreds of thousands — has long been utilized to ensure a defendant’s appearance at each and every court date. The more serious the offense and the more likely the chance of flight, the higher the bail, which, whether cash or bond, was forfeited upon failure to return.
Those able to pay were released to await trial, others were stuck behind bars, caught in the system. In no case was it clearer that the system was flawed than that of Kalief Browder, a Bronx 16-year-old who, unable to make $3,000 bail, spent three years on Rikers Island awaiting trial on a robbery charge. He took his own life two years after his release, at the age of 22, the result, his supporters say, of abuse endured in prison.
Governor Cuomo and other advocates of bail reform have long argued that cash bail was inequitable and that the old system unfairly targeted minorities and the poor for decades.
Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., an Independent who represents the South Fork, agrees, but only to a point. “Hard cases make bad law,” he said recently. “I have no problem with reforming bail for petty offenses, particularly misdemeanors. But judges need to have discretion.” Last month, he co-sponsored legislation that would provide just that.
The criminal justice reform package, which also mandates speedy trials and transforms the discovery process, was adopted on April 1, 2019, as part of the state’s annual omnibus budget bill. The $175.5 billion budget, which also included funding for schools and such site-specific initiatives as the Peconic Estuary and the South Fork Commuter Connection, eliminated cash bail for 400 offenses.
“I voted for the budget,” Mr. Thiele said, adding he is against policy initiatives being a part of the budget. “This is the result you get when you do it.” Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, who represents the First District, which includes the East End, voted against the bill.
Across the state, many were taken by surprise at the range of felony offenses now eligible for release without bail, and in some instances without the defendant even seeing a judge. They include, to name just a few, aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter in the second degree, arson in the third and fourth degrees, and promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child.
“Their definition of non-violent and my definition of non-violent are two totally different things,” Mr. Thiele said.
Local law enforcement officials agree.
“There needs to be modifications to the laws so that a potentially dangerous defendant sees a judge before being released — they will not have that opportunity in most cases,” said East Hampton Village Police Chief Mike Tracey. “I believe that as the public realizes the impact this will have, our state-elected officials will need to revisit this change.”
New York is one of the only states to abolish bail for most crimes without also giving judges discretion to consider whether the accused may be a risk to public safety.
The East End Chiefs Association, the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, and the Mayors and Supervisors Association have made their concerns known to both Mr. LaValle and Mr. Thiele. East Hampton Town Justices Lisa R. Rana and Steven Tekulsky declined to comment.
Elsewhere in New York, including on Long Island, several arrests made headlines in the first week of 2020, where people released under the new bail laws were charged with new crimes. Newsday reported that an Island Park woman, who was released from jail on Dec. 31 after her bail from an October arrest was dropped, had since been arrested three times on separate misdemeanors.
Sheriff Toulon pointed to a 23-year-old from Centerport who, he said, was “in and out of the Yaphank Correctional Facility five times during the months of November and December” on charges of first-degree criminal contempt. “Each time, he was released on his own recognizance under the guidelines of the new bail reform law,” Mr. Toulon said. “After each arrest he was released on his own recognizance, just to reoffend again. In the past, the judge could have used this information to set a higher bail each time or even remand him to jail without bail.”
“The immediate release of defendants and the potential impact that can have on the safety of smaller communities, as well as the immediate disclosure of victim and witness information, is very troubling,” said East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo. “The impact on the willingness of people to come forward remains to be seen, and is very concerning.”
Chief Sarlo said the new laws were affecting department morale. “The patrol officer on the street is feeling much of their efforts to help improve the quality of life and safety of the community they serve is being compromised.”
“Many of us in law enforcement feel the lawmakers have not listened to our concerns,” the chief continued. “Fixing some issues in the system regarding bail and discovery is an admirable goal; however, they killed an ant with a sledgehammer with this one, and, as you are already seeing in the news, the unintended consequences are very real and very worrisome.”
While Suffolk’s two jails, one in Riverside and one in Yaphank, will be less crowded — there were 758 inmates as of yesterday, down from 974 on Dec. 1 — Sheriff Toulon said there would also be fewer people with access to life-saving services. Since taking office two years ago, Mr. Toulon’s administration has focused on connecting those incarcerated with rehabilitation services prior to their release. Officers, civilian staff, and others working in the county jails connect substance abusers, people with persistent mental illness, and victims of human trafficking, among others, “with community assistance before they walk out of jail and back into your community.” In 2018, he said, correctional programming prevented nearly 100 women and men from returning to sex trafficking and helped build substantial cases against such criminal networks.
The sheriff predicted that the new law would curtail law enforcement’s ability to prosecute gangs, traffickers, and major drug dealers.
Assemblyman Thiele said yesterday, at the beginning of the legislative session, that, following “a real uproar” from suburban and upstate communities, and hearing Mr. Cuomo call the bail reform law “a work in progress,” he was hopeful it could be fixed. There is pushback from both sides of the aisle, he noted.
“It’s not so much a Democrat/Republican issue as it is a common-sense issue,” Mr. Thiele said.
