Bail reform back in the news before Tuesday's election

                                                                                  

From YonkersTimes.com

Bail reform is making news again.

Until former Gov. Andrew Cuomo shutdown the economy in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, New York's new bail reform laws had outraged Long Islanders.

The then-new progressive Democratic majority in Albany in 2019 had crafted a group of criminal justice reforms, lumped together as "bail reform" that Cuomo included in his budget. The changes took effect Jan. 1, 2020.

The reforms effectively eliminated cash bail on all but the most violent crimes and also included a drastic reworking of pre-trial evidence rules in favor of the accused. The idea was that poor people should not languish in jail because they could not come up with a few thousand dollars in bail.

Because of the law, judges were forced to release suspects only to see them go out and commit another crime...in one case, 20 minutes after leaving court. Even repeat, violent offenders walked free.

By Jan. 21, 2020, 64 percent of downstate suburban voters opposed bail reform, according to a Siena College Research Institute poll.

The March economic shutdown dampened the rage even as it lowered Long Island's crime rate. Anger rose again as businesses and recreation re-opened.

When Republican Anne Donnelly, a 32-year assistant Nassau District Attorney, was nominated to run for Nassau district attorney in July, she immediately began attacking Democrat candidate, State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a former prosecutor, for his role in bail reform.

Kaminsky was part of a working group that helped craft the bail reform laws; was thanked by the state Senate Majority leader Michael Gianaris for helping put the words on paper; and took credit for bail reform in a television news interview before the backlash began.

Kaminsky has since denied writing the law and noted that he pushed last year to give judges more discretion in setting bail.

Now,  President Joe Biden is pressing to institute cashless bail on the federal level as his Democratic administration pursues equity in law enforcement.

And a portion of New York's bail reform law has been found unconstitutional.

The reforms had allowed suspects to get a get a court order to examine the alleged crime scene, including a victim's home. Imagine an accused rapist being allowed back into the home of his victim to inspect where he allegedly committed the sexual assault

Prosecutors warned the change would have a chilling effect on victims and witnesses.

Acting Supreme Court justice Anthony Senft. Jr. last month found the change violates a victim's Fourth Amendment rights and expectations of privacy under the U.S. Constitution and also violates the New York constitution, according to a news release by Suffolk District Attorney Tim Sini.  Sini, by the way, is running for re-election on Tuesday.

Last week, a state appellate court agreed with Senft.

The case involved an alleged burglary on Aug. 2, 2020. The suspect was accused of stealing a safe containing approximately $60,000 cash from the lower level apartment of his residence in Wyandanch.

The Legal Aid society, representing the suspect, had requested access to inspect the lower-level apartment.

Meanwhile, in light of the Suffolk decision, police union representatives have announced a news conference Thursday in Mineola demanding "an overhaul of New York State's dangerous 'bail/discovery' laws.'

And in Nassau, a third-quarter bail reform crime report is due on Monday, the day before election.