State lawmakers push back on Hochul’s reform plans
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Assemblymember Latrice Walker, on the one week anniversary of her hunger strike, joined advocates and fellow members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus to reject efforts to change recent criminal justice reforms. Screenshot via livestream
By Rachel Vick
In the week since Gov. Kathy Hochul’s alleged plan to make changes to bail and criminal justice reform, a group of advocates and electeds have emphatically pushed back. On March 26, members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus — across both houses of the State legislature — issued their own 10-point plan.
The proposed measures highlighted during a rally in the capitol on Monday include increasing funding for community services for healthcare, youth programs, schools, anti-gun violence programs and pulic transit.
“When communities are destabilized, and when we disinvest from the real solutions, crime goes up. When people's basic human needs are not met, crime goes up,” the caucus, chaired by Assembly Member Michaelle Solage, wrote. When our criminal justice system prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation, crime goes up.”
“We will not stand by while the Governor plays politics with people’s lives,” they added. “We demand public safety measures that actually reduce violence and promote healthy, vibrant communities.”
Assemblymember Latrice Walker, on the seventh day of her hunger strike, joined Queens legislators and BPHA Caucus members including Assemblymembers Khaleel Anderson and Jessica González-Rojas, and State Sen. Jessica Ramos.
The caucus plan emphasized the impact of expanding healthcare for both the physical and mental health needs at every age to interrupt cycles of incarceration.
“These proposals help address the root causes and basics of public safety, including housing and healthcare and then seek to implement evidence-based solutions to stabilize communities,” González-Rojas said. “If we want our children and families to be safe we need to provide funding in our state budget for more social workers and psychologists in schools. If we want people to leave home and get back home safely, then we need to provide more funding to our public transit system.”
Hochul’s proposal included expanding the number of crimes that would be eligible for cash bail, giving judges more discretion in setting bail and adjusting the “Raise the Age” legislation to allow 16 and 17 year olds to be charged as adults.
Mayor Eric Adams, who has criticized bail reform as it currently exists, applauded the Governor’s leaked plan for the potential to “make New York safer, while not undoing important reforms.”
Marvin Mayfield, Director of Organizing at Center for Community Alternatives and part of the group of New Yorkers criticizing the conflation of bail reform with crime rates, said the Caucus’ proposed alternative would “advance real evidence-based strategies to create real safety.”
About 2 percent of nearly 100,000 cases between July 2020 and June 2021 led to rearrest on a violent felony charge while the defendant was out on bail for a previous charge, according to the Office of Court Administration. In the same time period, around 20 percent of all people released on bail were rearrested for any type of crime.
“We need real solutions, real safety, and real justice - not changes to undermine hard-won justice reforms,” he said. “The Governor’s proposal would have more people languishing in jail for longer, coerced to plead guilty in exchange for their freedom, denied access to evidence in their cases, and more. Ultimately, that means more wrongful convictions, more harm to struggling families, and less safety and justice.”
