Politics

Lawmaker: Cuomo’s plan to make public safety risk part of bail decision unpopular with Assembly Democrats

Jeff Coltin

Decades ago, Republicans in Albany squashed efforts to have judges consider the danger of releasing a criminal defendant while deciding whether to grant bail, according to Assemblyman Joseph Lentol. Today, efforts to inject public safety assessments into the process are promoted by two of the state’s top Democrats – Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio – along with the GOP-led state Senate.

Lentol and the Assembly’s Democratic majority oppose considering public safety in release and bail decision protocols, the Brooklyn lawmaker said during a panel discussion at City & State’s On Public Safety event Wednesday. Currently, judges are instructed to consider a defendant’s flight risk, among other factors. But some criminal justice reform advocates fear that prompting judges to weigh the potential danger posed by a defendant could exacerbate the problem of jailing people who accused but not convicted of a crime and further institutionalize racism by elevating biases about who is a threat to public safety. A Cuomo administration official noted that the governor’s proposal would minimize bias by supplying judges with a risk assessment for defendants. His plan has been praised by some law enforcement officials, such as Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, and reform advocates like the Vera Institute.

“It was all Republicans that controlled the state Legislature in the 1960s and the commission was headed by a Republican assemblyman, and they decided against putting public safety into the bill – that bail should only be determined by flight risk,” the assemblyman said of the last major overhaul of bail laws in 1965. “… Most people now are advocating for public safety, and if you do that to judges, and you put public safety in the bill, nobody is getting out of jail – because they’re already afraid now to let anybody out.”

Lentol said his fellow Assembly Democrats want “liberal bail reform” that does not include the public safety provision, while Senate Republicans seem to solely want that provision  to advance. He noted that Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a new bail reform policy out, but he had not had a chance to closely review it.

Cuomo’s budget briefing says New York should stop being one of four states that do not allow public safety to be factored into release and bail decisions. The administration argues the current approach leaves in jail some New Yorkers who do not present any public risk but cannot afford bail, which happened in the case of Kalief Browder, who spent several years on Rikers Island without being convicted of a crime.

Today’s system has also come under attack for failing to lock up dangerous individuals. De Blasio threw his support behind making public safety a factor in release and bail decisions after a man in a drug diversion program allegedly fatally shot NYPD Officer Randolph Holder in 2015.

Cuomo’s budget briefing last year included a similar plea for adding public safety assessments to the release and bail decision process, but no related legislation was introduced. An administration official said the governor’s team is currently seeking feedback from public safety officials, public defense groups, district attorneys and other stakeholders before formalizing forthcoming legislation.

Besides bail, participants on Wednesday’s panel said that the New York City Police Department has improved its relationship with communities, but that there was still room for improvement in policing and other criminal justice policies.

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill, who spoke before the panel, described the department’s efforts to collaborate with communities through its neighborhood policing initiative. He noted that, anecdotally, more New Yorkers seem to see police in a positive light, but that the administration hopes to formally measure this through community feedback surveys.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.