NYC Mayor Adams’ Call For Action On Bail Reforms Pitting Progressives Against Moderates

ALBANY — Mayor Adams’ plan to address gun violence in the city following the death of two NYPD officers is dividing Democrats and sparking renewed debate over recently enacted bail reforms.

The new mayor called on state lawmakers to amend bail laws to make it easier to prosecute gun crimes and give judges more discretion when setting bail.

While willing to sit down with Adams to discuss the issue, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) on Tuesday maintained her stance that reforms “on some level have been working” and called for more time to assess the changes.

“We did not just wake up and say, ‘oh we have to tinker with bail.’ We did the reforms because there was a disparity in treatment,” she said.

The Democratic-led Legislature approved sweeping changes to New York’s bail laws in 2019, limiting pretrial detention for most nonviolent crimes to make the system more equitable. The overhauls were amended in 2020 to make more serious offenses bail-eligible, such as criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter.

Law enforcement groups and Republican lawmakers have hammered Dems over the changes, drawing a direct link to increases in crime.

Stewart-Cousins said more information is needed to assess the situation and noted that recently released data revealed only 2% of those out on bail are rearrested for a violent crime.

Adams specifically called lawmakers to allow judges to consider a defendant’s dangerousness when deciding whether they should be detained, which was not allowed even before the 2019 changes.

To see more CLICK HERE.