Law professors condemn bail reform ‘fear-mongering’ in letter to local media

Justice reform advocates rally outside the Queens Criminal Courthouse in January 2019. Eagle file photo by David Brand

By David Brand

Amid backlash to New York state’s recently enacted bail reform law, a group of law professors have signed a letter to the New York Press Club calling on local news media to provide “accurate and objective context” rather than play up narratives promoted by opponents of the measure.

A total of 45 justice reform experts, including law professors from several New York City area colleges, signed the letter criticizing news coverage that has “merely amplified the fear-mongering voices of police union officials, prosecutors, and politicians who have long opposed bail reform.”

A state law that took effect Jan. 1 eliminates cash bail on misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, as well as certain robbery offenses considered violent felonies. Sponsors of the  measure say the cash bail system has led to deep disparities in the criminal justice system, condemning low-income defendants, particularly people of color, to pre-trial detention while enabling wealthier people who can afford their bail to go free after arraignment.

Conservative lawmakers have opposed the measure, as have police unions and many local prosecutors, including former executives in the Queens DA’s Office. Queens prosecutors, for example, spoke out against the bail law on various occasions in the months leading up to its enactment because they said it would allow dangerous people to be set free.

Advocates of the reform point out, however, that bail exists to ensure defendants have financial incentive to return to their next court date — not to determine their dangerousness. The city, state and nonprofits have meanwhile expanded or plan to expand programs such as supervised release that ensure people on bail return to court.

Media outlets have trumpeted many of the denunciations, fueling coverage marked by one-sided narratives or inaccuracies, the criminal justice experts write in the letter.

They said some coverage has verged on “Willie Horton-like claims” of people released on bail committing heinous acts. Horton, a convicted murderer, escaped a Massachusetts prison during a release program and proceeded to rape a woman and attack her boyfriend. The case provided the basis for a notorious ad campaign against 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts. “Willie Horton” TV commercials developed by the campaign for Republican nominee George H.W. Bush have become political shorthand for dog-whistle racism and for stoking fears about criminal justice reform.  

“Within days of the law taking effect, many local outlets began a barrage of cherry-picked storiesdesigned to stoke panic,” the letter states. “The danger of fear-driven news coverage cannot be overstated. These reforms are a critical first step towards a fairer criminal legal system and a stronger and safer New York.”

The authors specifically criticized coverage of a Queens case involving a man who spit at an officer at LaGuardia Airport. A CBS News story implied that the man, who was HIV positive, could spread his illness through his saliva. The defendant was released on bail, prompting outrage from law enforcement unions quoted in the story headline.

The letter also condemned articles that “weaponize fear” of anti-Semitism and have linked the nascent bail reform measure with increased hate crimes. 

“This is not a new phenomenon,” said Brooklyn Law School Associate Professor Jocelyn Simonson, who signed the letter. “It happens when there’s backlash to a new law that changes the calculus of who is incarcerated. But it’s the media’s responsibility to make sure that the reporting is accurate and not coming from a place of fear-mongering.”