In 2019, on any given day New York jails held nearly 16,000 people pretrial, overwhelmingly because they could not afford bail. This system of mass pretrial jailing criminalized poverty, led to coercive plea deals, and devastated individuals, families, and communities. Alongside formerly incarcerated leaders, advocates, and organizations across the state, CCA fought for bail reform legislation that would protect pretrial liberty and vastly reduce the number of people incarcerated pretrial. Now, we are fighting against rollbacks to the new law, paving the way for a system that protects the pretrial freedom of all people.
Rollbacks to Bail and Discovery Reform in the 2020 Budget
This year’s New York State Budget included rollbacks to the bail and discovery reform laws that took effect only three months prior. Pushed for by Governor Cuomo and the Senate Majority, these rollbacks represent a capitulation to racist fear-mongering and a coordinated campaign of opposition led by prosecutors and police across the state. These rollbacks will potentially subject tens of thousands more New Yorkers to pretrial jailing and will take effect in just 90 days when experts predict the coronavirus will still be spreading in New York. In short, these cruel rollbacks will subject people to illness, isolation, and death behind bars during a global health pandemic. The discovery provisions also deny people facing criminal charges access to crucial and potentially exculpatory witness information. These are not small tweaks; these changes represent a significant retreat and will undoubtedly lead to more incarceration and more wrongful convictions.
CCA Bail Reform Advocacy in the News