The truth: 43% of people let go with no bail on a serious charge in NYC were rearrested

[Kamaji]

The truth: 43% of people let go with no bail on a serious charge in NYC were rearrested — the ‘reform’ is a disaster

By Jim Quinn
February 14, 2022

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and other politicians who voted for the disastrous New York bail-reform laws keep quoting a “study” that claims only 2% of defendants released under the new law get rearrested for a violent felony while their case is pending.

That study is technically accurate as far as it goes, but the 2% number is absolutely meaningless and a distortion of what’s happening on the street.

The reality is that even under the “old” bail laws, most defendants were released on bail or on their own recognizance, and most of them did not get rearrested for a felony offense while their case was pending. First-time misdemeanor defendants charged with DWIs, minor assaults, shoplifting, turnstile jumping and driving with a suspended license, for example, were almost universally released without bail. First-time offenders charged with nonviolent felonies were also almost always released without bail.

In fact, in June 2019, before the new laws took effect, we did a study in Queens and found that there were only 20 defendants held in city jails on Queens misdemeanor cases awaiting trial solely because they could not make bail. They had an average of 12 prior unsealed arrests, seven prior convictions and three prior bench warrants. Only 398 defendants were being held on Queens cases solely because they could not make bail. They had an average of 10 prior unsealed arrests, six prior convictions and two prior bench warrants; 95% of these defendants were being held on felonies.

The reality is that only defendants charged with very serious crimes or with lengthy criminal records were being held on bail under the old bail laws. A study that looks at every arrest and calculates the percentage of people who get rearrested doesn’t factor in that there are people in this state who make a career out of crime.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/02/14/43-of-people-let-go-with-no-bail-on-a-serious-charge-in-nyc-were-rearrested/