“Innocent until proven guilty.” It’s a concept we learn at a very
young age. Maybe as young as when we learned about the freedom of speech. If you’re
like me, you’ve probably even jokingly used the phrase when being reprimanded
by parents or teachers. It’s ingrained in us as Americans. But the term does
not apply to the system of bail. In reality, the bail system is “guilty until
proven innocent…unless you have enough money.”
As of January 1, 2020, many offenses in the state of New York are no longer subject to the bail system. You’ve probably seen it on social media, maybe you’ve even commented in horror, but take a second to understand what’s really going on before you panic. Prior to January 1, a judge could set bail for various offenses. If you could meet the monetary requirement to cover bail (or bail bond),
Think about that for a minute…
If you have the money you are free, if you don’t have the
money, you are incarcerated. BEFORE the judge and jury decide whether you are
guilty of the crime of which you are charged.
"But, we’re letting criminals free.” First off, if we are
working with the premise of innocent until proven guilty, they are not
criminals because at this point (pre-trial), NOTHING is proven. “The streets
will be flooded with dangerous people,” you say? Well, many of the more serious
offenses, including most violent felonies, all sex crimes, and some domestic
violence offenses are still subject to the bail system. There are also numerous
non-monetary release conditions which an accused can be subject to based on the
offense, such pretrial supervision and electronic monitoring. Regardless, in
New York state, the only issue that could ever be considered when a judge sets
bail is/was if the defendant was a ‘flight risk’. Will they show up for trial? There
was NEVER a stipulation about public safety. * So in reality, this bail reform
law is simply putting people WITHOUT money on the same level as those WITH
money.
Like everything else these days, politics and emotion are
driving the narrative on bail reform. Conservative outlets, in addition to some
others twitter-finger influencers (ahem), are labeling Governor Cuomo as soft
on crime as a result. But as we have established, the bill is about equality, not crime. Conservative news and influencers (ahem) have a fetish for labeling
equality measures as something other than leveling the playing field using
vitriolic verbiage. SNAP (food stamps) is “handouts to the lazy” as opposed to
feeding the hungry. This is not a new propaganda tactic, but here we are,
sharing misinformation and subscribing to alarmist culture.
Maybe your view is skewed by personal experience. A person
who was a victim of crime will certainly think differently than one who was
ever charged for a crime. However, I would attest those emotions should not be
considered in lawmaking. Look, I don’t need to tell you that our criminal
justice system is imperfect. I don’t need to tell you that there are guilty
people on the street and there are innocent people in prison. I don’t need to
tell you that we have a long way to go. But what I need to tell you, is this
law DOES make justice a little more blind. If you disagree and want to indict
me on that, “I’m innocent until proven guilty.”
* New York state is the ONLY state in the country to not have a stipulation about public safety. Since the 1970s all 49 other states have implemented some sort of public safety provision. I am conflicted on this part of the law in New York, but it’s not new so if you’re panicking now, rest assured, you’ve survived so far.
Shout out to the sources:
A1 Bail Bonds Inc.
CBS
MintPress News
NYTimes.com
Vera.org
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