New York State Officials Call for Changes to Bad Bail Reform

 



ELIZABETHTOWN — State and Essex County officials are concerned that the controversial statewide bail reform measures have made it more difficult to curtail and prosecute crimes such as drug trafficking.

At a news conference Friday morning at the Essex County Government Center, State Sen. Dan Stec (R-Queensbury) and Assemblyman Matt Simpson (R-Horicon) were joined by Essex County Board of Supervisors Chair Shaun Gillilland (R-Willsboro), Moriah Town Supervisor Tom Scozzafava (R-Moriah) and Essex County District Attorney Kristi Sprague to call for improvements to the system.

Bail reform measures that went into effect Jan. 1, 2020 eliminated cash bail for most nonviolent crimes and largely took away judicial discretion. Subsequent updates to the law allowed judges to impose cash bail in more situations.

'TRAINWRECK'

The group of Republican officials pointed to the Aug. 31 arrest of 12 people in Moriah, many of whom were previously apprehended on similar charges of possession and/or distribution of drugs such as fentanyl and heroin, as an example of how the new laws could be a factor in making it difficult to combat illegal drug dealing.

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