Category: In the News
City and State: Advocates: Don’t make changes to the state’s new bail law
“A coalition of 60 criminal justice reform groups are sending an open letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders demanding that they don’t change the state’s newly enacted law limiting the use of cash bail. “Make no mistake,” the letter reads, in part, “retreating from bail reform less than a week after it goes […]
The New York Times: After Anti-Semitic Incidents, New Bail Law in N.Y. Comes Under Attack
“We are seeing elected officials turn back because of fear-mongering,” said Akeem Browder, the brother of Kalief Browder, a Bronx teenager whose long incarceration on Rikers Island and subsequent suicide galvanized the push for reform. “That’s cowardice. It’s atrocious.” Read the full article here
Human Rights Watch: Groups Urge NY Lawmakers to Stand Firm on Bail Reform
January 1st was a historic day that ushered in pretrial reforms that will make New York fairer and more just. These reforms are a huge step forward towards eliminating the race- and wealth-based detention that has plagued New York for decades. The new laws will dramatically expand pretrial liberty and reduce jail populations and taxpayer […]
News Beat: BONUS: New York Bail Reform and the Afghanistan Papers
Bail reform goes into effect in New York. Listen to this special episode to find out what it all means. Featuring Alice Fontier, The Bronx Defender’s Managing Director of the Criminal Defense Practice. Listen to the full podcast here
Gotham Gazette: Real Criminal Justice Reform Requires Standing Up to Fear-Mongering
“Nearly five years ago, Jerome Murdough, an African-American Marine Corps veteran, died on Rikers Island due to a combination of injustice, inhumanity, and medical neglect. Afflicted by homelessness and mental illness, Murdough tragically passed away when temperatures in his cell reached 100 degrees – heat that was contraindicated with his medicine – and he baked […]
News12: Bail reform law frees inmates accused of misdemeanor, nonviolent felonies takes effect
“Alice Fontier, of the Bronx Defenders, also welcomes the change. “All of the evidence, the data from the years of the cash bail system demonstrates that what happens is that poor people stay in jail and people with money don’t,” Fontier says. As of Dec. 28, 50 to 60 pre-trial detainees were awaiting release on […]
New York Daily News: Poor and at risk of losing their kids: Moms and dads under ACS investigation deserve more legal help
“The City Council has proposed giving parents meaningful access to legal representation during an ACS investigation; like a suspect facing arrest, parents being investigated would have the chance to access legal help. Opponents of the bills claim access will make investigations more “adversarial,” even implying that children will be endangered. The first problem with this narrative is […]
The City: Report Calls On New NYPD Top Cop Dermot Shea To Abolish Gang Database
“Public defenders and justice advocates are calling on new NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea to abolish a policing tool he’s strongly defended: the department’s gang database. The “Erase the Database” campaign, to be launched Thursday, marks the latest in a yearslong effort to end collection of names and monitoring of the estimated 17,500 to 42,000 New Yorkers believed to be in […]
Amsterdam News: New report takes anti-gang initiative ‘Operation Crew Cut’ to task
“A new report unveiled today details how much harm both of these operations have reaped on New York’s Black and Brown teenagers. “Gang Takedowns In The De Blasio Era: The Dangers of Precision Policing” details how, through large scale conspiracy cases, how thousands of juveniles and adults were arrested and placed in a secretive gang […]
Times Union: Commentary: Reforms make justice system fairer to New York’s poor
“Equal justice before the law is a cruel myth. In New York’s criminal courts it is better to be guilty and rich than poor and innocent. Under current law, guilty defendants who can afford bail are promptly set free while innocent poor people must sit in jail. This predicament is being remedied by criminal justice […]