The Professional Bondsmen of Texas- Blog

In the last few months Representative Ann Johnson publicly called for Texas to get rid of bondsmen and replace the current system of release in Texas with the system referred to as "The New Jersey Plan."   On this episode learn what the New Jersey Plan is and how pretrial release is handled under this release system.   Our guest is Michelle Esquenazi who is a bondsman from New York.  Join us as we learn about a release/detain system that relies on an algorithm called a  risk assessment tool to make determinations about release.   To learn more about risk assessments visit the PBT website or go directly to one of the organizations pamphlets on the issue by CLICKING HERE . This is a great place to educate yourself about all things criminal justice reform/bail reform.  Educate yourself and join the debate. Also available on: Apple Podcasts-            CLICK HERE Spotify-           ...

  A state court judge in Paterson has refused to release a Midland Park man charged in a Prospect Park shooting. That defendant, Rahjshone Newkirk, 23, and borough resident Tylaire Clark, 22, had been sought by police after two people reported being shot at on Hopper Street around 6 p.m. Feb. 2, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Prospect Park Police Chief Ammen Matari said in a joint release. Their vehicle was struck, but the victims’ weren’t wounded, they said. Borough police nabbed Newkirk on North 8th Street last Thursday, May 12.  Despite a state bail reform law that has forced the release of various types of offenders, Superior Court Judge Joseph Portelli ordered that Newkirk remain held in the Passaic County Jail following a first court appearance on Wednesday, May 18. Clark was arrested on East Main Street on Tuesday, May 17. He has a first court appearance scheduled for May 23. Both men face weapons-related charges in addition to the attempted murder coun...

Faced with surging gun violence in the state’s cities, lawmakers are looking to revise New Jersey’s bail reform system so that more people accused of gun crimes would be detained until their trial. New Jersey implemented changes five years ago that mostly eliminated cash bail and releases most defendants pending their trial, unless they’re charged with murder or a screening process flags them as high-risk. A bill, A2426, endorsed Monday by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee reverses that presumption for first-degree and second-degree gun charges covered by the Graves Act, which apply to most weapons offenses in the state, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, machine guns and defaced firearms. A group of urban mayors is advocating for the change, though bail-reform advocates warn it could undercut a successful criminal justice reform that prevents people from being locked up simply because they couldn’t afford even modest cash bail requirements. “I don’t think that possession...

  Some mayors and state lawmakers in New Jersey say that crime has been on the upswing for two years and that one of the reasons is because of the state’s bail reform law. “Major cities across America have record-breaking homicides, record-breaking violence two years in a row,” says Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. The tristate area has seen a scourge of gun violence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. From a record-breaking year of homicides in Philadelphia last year, to the murder of two NYPD officers in Harlem last month, to the violence in New Jersey cities like Newark, Paterson and Trenton. The mayors and state lawmakers met on Tuesday at Paterson City Hall and took aim at the state’s bail reform law. Passed under the administration of former Gov. Chris Christie, bail reform all but ended cash bail in New Jersey. The idea was that judges should not be able to keep people in jail for minor crimes they couldn’t afford to be bailed out for. But the mayors and police officials say t...