Two Queens senators open to bail reform compromise
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State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. was the only Queens senator who did not co-sponsor last year’s Bail Reform Act. Eagle file photo by Andy Katz.
By David Brand
In the days since State Senate Democrats announced they were considering changes to the state’s new bail law, two members of the Queens delegation say they are open to a compromise plan that would eliminate cash bail but give judges discretion to send people to jail. Just one other Queens senator would discuss the plan.
State Sens. Joseph Addabbo and Toby Ann Stavisky both said they are willing to make changes to the law amid an onslaught of opposition from Republican lawmakers and the law enforcement community.
“The original legislation was not chiseled in stone,” Stavisky told the Eagle. “We recognized we ought to take a look and see if there were ways to make it better.”
The current law, which took effect Jan. 1, eliminates cash bail on misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, and has faced intense criticism from police, prosecutors, conservative lawmakers and many media outlets. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told Newsday that she supports a compromise plan, which would address some of the opponent’s concerns — and potentially protect vulnerable senate Democrats — by allowing judges to order defendants to jail if they consider them dangerous. The plan would also end the use of cash bail completely.
“We believe that this gets to the heart of the issues and that it is still progressive,” Stewart-Cousins told Newsday. “Getting rid of cash bail is really important.”
Addabbo praised Stewart-Cousins for “talking with law enforcement” and listening to feedback from bail reform opponents. Addabbo was the only Queens senator who did not support last year’s bail legislation before a modified version was included in the final budget.
“We don’t know what the language is, but I think we’re moving in the right direction,” said Addabbo, who represents Queens’ most conservative district — a gerrymandered sliver that winds from the Western portion of the Rockaway Peninsula, through Howard Beach and into Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village.
Though the law is less than two months old, he said there was enough data on post-release recidivism to identify flaws.
“All legislation starts off with good intentions and then it breathes and you see where it needs to be amended or adjusted,” he said. “There has been credible feedback — and not just hype — enough factual data to at least warrant that we need to consider these dangers.”
The other six Queens senators, including Stavisky, supported sweeping legislation that would have eliminated cash ball last year. That bill was introduced by Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris of Western Queens, who declined to comment on the compromise proposal that Stewart-Cousins described to Newsday.
Southeast Queens State Sens. Leroy Comrie and James Sanders also declined to comment. State Sen. John Liu did not provide a response.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos said Thursday that she was still waiting for an actual piece of legislation to review. “So far there’s only an article,” Ramos said.
In the days since Stewart-Cousins’ comments, Ramos has tweeted or retweeted a few messages criticizing the backlash to the bail law, including an op-ed about the history of bias and judicial discretion by Daily News contributor Errol Louis and a thread condemning a News cover story trashing bail reform.
The current bail measure has been a persistent target for Senate Republicans, who hope to win back majority control of the chamber by defeating Democrats outside New York City, especially on Long Island. “Unfortunately, the Senate Republicans have turned this into a political sideshow,” Stavisky said. “They’re doing commercials based on false assumptions and that’s not fair.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea and other law enforcement leaders, as well as Mayor Bill de Blasio, have blamed a January crime increase on the bail law, though de Blasio and Shea could not provide data to back up the claim.
Several justice reform advocates have criticized the backlash as fearmongering. Queens Councilmembers Rory Lancman and Donovan Richards sent a letter to Shea accusing him of pushing a “false narrative” to influence a return to the status quo.
“Simply put, your numbers don’t add up,” Lancman and Richards wrote in a letter to Shea. “The public and policymakers are ill-served by false narratives that inhibit legitimate conversations about improving the bail reform law.”
Critics of the compromise plan, including several members of the Queens assembly delegation, say “judicial discretion” to remand defendants would be informed by racial and income biases. Bail is set to ensure defendants have a financial incentive to return to court. The system in place in New York led to low-income defendants — particularly people of color — being held in pretrial detention at a disproportionate rate, while wealthier defendants pay for their release.
“It took decades for us to get where we are,” Assemblymember Catalina Cruz told the Eagle Thursday. “We finally had a group of elected officials willing to create change that addresses the inequalities in our system.”
