Queens assembly members resist senate plan to overhaul bail law
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Assemblymember Catalina Cruz (right) joined Queens public defender Tiffany Cabán (at podium) and other state lawmakers at an Albany rally denouncing a Senate proposal to change the state’s new bail law. Photo courtesy of RAPP.
By David Brand
A day after Democratic leaders in the state Senate said they were willing to compromise on new bail legislation, several members of the Assembly — led by a contingent from Queens — pushed back, refusing to cave to pressure to change a measure that took effect about six weeks ago.
Assemblymembers Catalina Cruz and Alicia Hyndman joined public defender Tiffany Cabán and other New York City leaders at a statehouse rally to denounce a proposed reform to the state bail law, which eliminates cash bail on misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. The Senate’s proposal would get rid of cash bail completely, but give judges discretion to remand defendants.
“It took decades for us to get where we are. It took centuries of oppression and criminalizing poverty to get a system we had until last year, and we finally had a group of elected officials willing to create change that addresses the inequalities in our system,” Cruz told the Eagle.
“We didn’t do it lightly — we met with advocates, we met with opponents, we looked at the numbers, we talked with experts who are better versed on this than many of us are,” she continued. “And we fully understood that the lives of people like Kalief Browder would be completely different if it were not set up in a way that criminalized black and brown poor people.”
Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman criticized the Senate’s bail reform proposal. Photo courtesy of Hyndman’s Office.
Opponents of the law say lawmakers should at the very least allow judges to determine whether a defendant is sent to jail or allowed to return to the community, regardless of the charge against them.
“Judges should be trusted to consider dangerousness and public safety in appropriate cases,” said Bronx Criminal Court Supervising Judge George Grasso at an Eagle forum on Feb. 6. “Wholesale removal of judicial discretion is dangerous and unprecedented.
Moderate Democrats in the state Senate, especially on Long Island, have faced particular pressure from their constituents, conservative opponents and the media since the bail law took effect.
Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who sponsored the original bill, declined comment.
Hyndman said she understands the Senate’s predicament, but said senators getting heat in their districts should weather the current political storm — at least beyond the 45 days since the law took effect.
“The Senate is concerned with keeping the power, and I get that, but I don’t want black and brown people to bear the brunt of it,” Hyndman said. “We’re not pushing back hard enough to say, ‘Give it time.’”
Hyndman said she also found the judicial discretion proposal “detrimental.”
“If our society was truly, ideally what we wanted it to be — judges not judging people based on their economic circumstances or their skin color — I would be for that, but that’s not the case,” she said. “You’re talking about Upstate New York, Long Island … Communities where judges do not reflect the majority of the community and that’s a problem.”
