Bail Reform in New York: What Have We Learned? What’s Next?

Bail Reform in New York:

What Have We Learned? What’s Next?

#NYBailConference 

NEW! WEBINAR | BEFORE AND AFTER: DATA ON THE IMPACT OF BAIL REFORM

On Wednesday, September 21st, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and John Jay College of Criminal Justice hosted a webinar detailing pretrial release outcomes before and after the State’s bail reform law took effect in 2020.

Building on the conference held on May 13th, 2022 (see below), this webinar highlighted new DCJS pretrial data.

• Coinciding with the webinar, DCJS published new data and analysis, which includes pretrial release decisions for arraignments that occurred between Jan. 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2021, to inform the public about the impact and implementation of reforms.
• This new information complements the existing statutorily required pretrial data file and dashboards available on the Office of Court Administration (OCA) and DCJS websites (see "Pretrial Release" section on DCJS page), which are updated every six months.

PPT: New York’s Reformed Bail Law What is it? What are its Effects? (DCJ Director Michael Rempel and Policy Director Krystal Rodriguez)

PPT: Supplemental Pretrial Release Data Summary Analysis: 2019 – 2021 (NYSDCJS Deputy Commissioner in the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ Office of Justice Research and Performance Leigh Bates)

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT ON BAIL REFORM IN NEW YORK

On April 1, 2019, as part of the York State Fiscal Year Budget for 2019–2020,  New York State approved sweeping bail reform, eliminating the option to set bail or detain people before trial in most nonviolent cases, while preserving bail for virtually all violent felonies. The reforms established a presumption of release, requiring courts to find that someone poses a credible risk of flight before they can set bail or any other pretrial conditions. When bail is involved, the law also mandates consideration of people’s ability to pay before setting an amount. After the law went into effect January 1, 2020,  New York State enacted additional amendments (Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2020 effective July 2, 2020) reinstating some offenses as  bail eligible. The amendments also require the chief administrator of the courts, in conjunction with DCJS, to collect and report detailed data regarding pretrial release and detention.

Controversies and Dilemmas

The original 2019 reform emerged after several years of information gathering, advocacy, and discussion of alternative approaches. Key points of contention included whether to eliminate bail entirely or preserve it for some charges; how many and which charges would remain bail- and/or detention-eligible; whether risk assessment tools would be permissible; and whether New York would permit judges to consider someone’s perceived dangerousness or retain the law’s preexisting focus on likelihood of court attendance as the sole basis for setting pretrial conditions.

These policy debates and others have persisted, while new debates have arisen. In particular, amidst a nationwide spike in gun violence that first accelerated in the summer of 2020, some public officials and commentators have linked bail reform to violent crime and advocated for rollbacks that would expand courts’ ability to detain people with pending charges. Although no hard evidence supports a bail reform-crime connection, and prior research in other cities indicates that it is oftentimes detaining people, not releasing them, that increases recidivism in the long run, researchers have yet to produce a rigorous evaluation capable of resolving the crime/recidivism question in New York. However, absent better research and allowing additional time for implementation and evaluation, policy makers and the public continue to debate the perception and reality of bail reform in the context of public safety concerns, including issues related to violence as well as hate crimes. 
 

CONFERENCE - BAIL REFROM IN NEW YORK: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? WHAT'S NEXT?

On May 13th, 2022, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, in collaboration with the Data Collaborative for Justice, hosted a public conference on New York State’s bail and pretrial laws, policies, and practices. This conference served as a forum on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we should go from here, including a diversity of perspectives through presentations, panels, and interactive roundtables. We were fortunate to have the participation of speakers who presented facts and data regarding bail reform and its impacts in New York (as well as helpful contextual information from around the country) and respectfully represent different constituencies and concerns.  Ultimately, this conference served as a platform where all stakeholders in bail reform, from the public to system actors tasked with implementation can engage with the facts on this important policy reform, identified shortcomings in the relevant law and practice, and assessed opportunities for improving upon bail reform.  

CONFERENCE AGENDA

Watch Full Conference

Questions about the conference should be e-mailed to: dcj@jjay.cuny.edu

Many thanks to Arnold Ventures for their support and for helping to make this convening possible.