Press Statement

Bail Reform Rollbacks Would Further Harm Black and Brown Communities and Public Health

Statement by Center for Community Alternatives in Response to Gov. Cuomo’s Announcement

NEW YORK – Yesterday, in a late Saturday press call, Governor Cuomo reported that he will be pushing for bail reform rollbacks in the state budget despite an “accelerated” process that aims to have a final budget passed this week. Later in the evening, Speaker Heastie confirmed that two Assemblymembers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and that the State Capitol will be closed to visitors. Officials also reported the first two deaths in New York State attributable to the coronavirus.

In response, Center for Community Alternatives put out the following statement, attributable to Katie Schaffer, Director of Advocacy and Organizing:

“In a pandemic where jails are breeding grounds for COVID-19, Governor Cuomo wants to ram through unwarranted changes to bail reform that would subject hundreds of thousands more legally innocent people to pretrial jailing.

The facts show that bail reform is working. Each day in February 2020, there were 6,800 fewer people incarcerated pretrial in New York’s jails than in February 2019. This is 6,800 people who are not subject to the trauma of pretrial jailing, the violation of their constitutional rights, the havoc of family separation, or – in this moment – heightened risk of contracting COVID-19.

Rolling back bail reform would mean more people unjustly in jail without a trial, which is not only inhumane, but threatens further spread of coronavirus. We urge Governor Cuomo – for the sake of racial justice, our constitutional rights, and public health – to focus on funding healthcare, housing, and other critical services in the budget, instead of seeking to put more Black and brown people in jail pretrial through a rushed and non-transparent budget process.”