Silence from bail law champ Gianaris frustrates justice reformers

State Sen. Michael Gianaris sponsored a bill to eliminate cash bail last year, but has kept a low-profile during the bail law backlash, advocates say. AP Photo by Hans Pennink

By David Brand

Queens State Sen. Michael Gianaris championed a bail system overhaul that became law last legislative session, but he has been M.I.A. as opponents assail the new measure, according to frustrated justice reform advocates.

Gianaris sponsored a bill in 2019 that would completely eliminate cash bail before a modified version of the legislation passed as part of last year’s budget. The law eliminating cash bail on misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, as well as certain robbery offenses considered violent felonies, took effect Jan. 1 and immediately encountered backlash from conservative leaders, the law enforcement community and many moderate Democrats.

Even as some state senators defend the new law, Gianaris, the deputy majority leader, has kept a low profile. Advocates say they are confused by his public inaction.

“For those folks who walk around as champions, who said they’d be the ones to put this through — and I’m really talking about Michael Gianaris — you need to put up or shut up,” said Citizens Action Campaign Director Stanley Fritz during a digital press conference to oppose efforts to roll back the bail law Monday. “You helped us sponsor the bail law and now we haven’t seen you anywhere around to help protect the bail law.” 

Bail is set to ensure defendants have a financial incentive to return to court, but the system that was in place in New York contributed to deep disparities in the criminal justice system. Low-income defendants — particularly people of color — were held in pre-trial detention while wealthier people charged with the same offenses could afford their bail and return home after arraignment.

“Thousands of New Yorkers who have not yet been convicted of a crime are languishing in jail simply because they cannot afford bail,” Gianaris told the Daily News in 2019.

He has been far less vocal in his support for bail reform in recent months.

Gianaris declined to comment for an Eagle story last month about a proposed compromise plan that would eliminate cash bail but give judges discretion to send people to jail. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore have each signaled their support for judicial discretion. 

Gianaris did not join 40 other state lawmakers, including five state senators, who sent a letter Friday to Cuomo, Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie defending the law and urging them not to tweak it.

“Bail reform rollbacks were never the answer, but they are especially irresponsible at a time when they would exacerbate a public health crisis,” the letter states.

Gianaris’ spokesperson, Alexander Marion, defended his boss’ record on justice reform in a statement Monday.

“Gianaris has long been the state’s leading voice against the inequities of our cash bail system and is proud of the positive reforms already achieved,” Marion said.

“He will continue to focus his efforts on bringing greater justice to our criminal legal system,” he added.

The justice reform advocates with whom Gianaris aligned in the past say they want him to take a firmer stance to defend the current law and resist judicial discretion.

“I think advocates from across the state notice his silence,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Policy Counsel Nicole Triplett during a phone conference with reporters March 12.

Advocates say judicial discretion perpetuates racial disparities in the justice system because judges determine whether to remand defendants using risk-assessment tools, algorithms that a create a score based on a defendant’s history. The score is supposed to indicate the likelihood that a defendant will commit another crime or return for future court dates. They have been used in New Jersey and California, where advocates say they result in the same racial imbalances in the jails.

Gianaris, Triplett said, “was one of our supporters who noted the harms that were happening in New Jersey and California and he made it clear that he didn’t want a New Jersey or California model in terms of adding more incentives for risk assessment tools to be broadly used.”

“We hope his stance hasn’t changed.”