The sad impact of progressives’ efforts to eliminate bail and jail time for criminals was almost immediate. The “no bail, no jail” attitude of the liberal left running America’s big cities put criminals right back on the street with no collateral standing between them and repeated offenses.
Americans are sick of it. And now, sensing that they have gone too far, the left is desperately trying to backpedal. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is pushing a sleight of reversals to the progressive pro-crime agenda. No doubt she’s hoping a u-turn on crime will give voters time to forget her party’s complete abandonment of the rule of law, beginning in Summer 2020.
The NY Post’s Bernadette Hogan and Carl Campanile report:
Gov. Kathy Hochul is now proposing a sweeping public safety package including changes that will make more crimes bail eligible in New York after weeks of being accused of ignoring the city and state’s crime wave, The Post has learned.
The 10-point plan, obtained by The Post, includes a measure that would give judges more discretion to order bail and detain criminal defendants for a host of additional crimes based on their criminal history, including repeat offenders.
“For offenses that are not currently subject to arrest, police will have the ability (though not the requirement) to deny a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) and arrest an individual who has previously received a DAT within eighteen months. All second offenses within a certain period of time will be bail-eligible,” reads a copy of Hochul’s memo, which she’ll negotiate to include in her $216 billion budget proposal due April 1.
“The statute will set forth specific criteria on which judges will base their determinations, including criminal history and history of firearm use/possession.”
Here’s Hochul’s entire 10-point plan as reported by the NY Post:
- For the most serious felonies, allow bail determinations to be informed by factors including criminal history and history of firearm use and possession. Judges will be allowed to set bail not based solely on the “least restrictive” conditions deemed necessary to ensure a return to court. The statute will set forth specific criteria on which judges will base their determinations, including criminal history and history of firearm use/possession.
- Make repeat offenses subject to arrest and bail-eligible
- Make certain gun-related offenses, hate crimes offenses, and subway crime offenses subject to arrest and not [desk appearance tickets]. Certain offenses which presently are subject to desk appearance tickets will be made only eligible for arrest.
- Make certain gun-related offenses bail-eligible.
- Make it easier to prosecute gun trafficking.
- Targeted reforms of the discovery statute.
- Targeted reforms of the “Raise the Age” statute.
- Increase funding for pretrial, diversion, and employment programs: Hochul’s budget already includes $83.4 million for pretrial services, but the governor would increase that amount — although the memo did not say by how much. It would also distribute the nearly $500 million appropriated for “Raise the Age” implementation that has not yet been spent.
- Expand involuntary commitment and Kendra’s Law.
- Increase funding for mental health treatment.
Action Line: Why did it take NY politicians so long to hear the pleading from their constituents who are tired of enduring crime every day? Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and other DAs backed by George Soros around the country have led America’s cities back to crime levels unseen since the 1980s, or ever. Is that the “progress” progressives are selling? If you live in one of the big blue cities, or a state run by a governor who cares more about earning donations from the Open Society Project than keeping constituents safe, it’s time you get serious about a search for a better America. Start your search with my Super States. If you need help getting motivated, click here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, and I’ll push you each month to achieve your goals. But only if you’re serious.
