Hochul floats another N.Y. bail law rollback

Expect more political beef over bail reform in Albany this year.

Gov. Hochul proposed Tuesday making it easier for judges to set high-dollar bail for some criminal defendants — revisiting an issue that could raise hackles from criminal justice reform advocates and Democrats in the state Legislature.

Hochul’s proposal, outlined in her State of the State address, would eliminate the so-called “least restrictive” standard in the law, which requires judges to consider a defendant’s financial ability to post bail before deciding on a monetary amount, among other stipulations.

The governor baked in a caveat, though. She said judges should be able to disregard the standard only in cases involving “serious crimes,” which she defined as those that are already bail-eligible under the law.

“As leaders, we cannot ignore that, when we hear so often from New Yorkers that crime is their top concern,” Hochul said. “And so, to my partners in the Legislature, let’s start with this shared understanding and have a thoughtful conversation during the budget process about improvements we can make to the law.”

The Democrat-led Legislature’s 2019 bail reforms, already amended in 2020, banned the use of cash bail for most nonviolent offenses on the impetus that the practice was needlessly punitive against low-income defendants, especially Black and Latino New Yorkers.

Last year, after months of prodding from Mayor Adams and to the chagrin of many left-wing politicians, Hochul persuaded lawmakers to give judges slightly more discretion and add more crimes to the list of bail-eligible offenses, including some gun charges and forms of theft.

Still, Adams — and Republicans — have pressed for even more adjustments to the bail laws, and Hochul appeared to side with that sentiment as she told lawmakers in her State of the State speech that the “bail reform law as written leaves room for improvement.”

[ Housing, mental health and public safety among Gov. Hochul’s top policy priorities in NY State of State address ]

Adams, who attended Hochul’s speech before a joint session of the Legislature, declined to comment specifically via a spokeswoman on the governor’s push for repealing the “least restrictive” standard.

In a statement issued by his office, Adams said Hochul’s State of the State proposals on “public safety reflect New York City’s priorities.”

“There is much to celebrate in this important address,” the mayor said, “and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with the governor to make New York City stronger, safer and more affordable.”

Another aspect of Hochul’s speech that aligned with Adams’ agenda was her proposal to pour $1 billion into expanding mental health services.

The Hochul plan — several elements of which were requested by Adams in November when he rolled out a controversial policy for involuntarily placing mentally ill homeless people into care— would bankroll the reopening of 850 shuttered inpatient psychiatric beds; facilitate 150 new beds in state hospitals, and fund 3,500 units of supportive housing for individuals battling mental illness or drug addiction.

On the bail front, Republicans were less enthusiastic than Adams about Hochul’s plan.

“We think it needs more than just tweaks. I think she gave the impression that only minor tweaks are needed,” state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Lockport) said following the speech.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), meanwhile, was noncommittal on the bail issue, saying he’d reserve judgment on Hochul’s suggestion for now, but that he’s primarily focused on tackling “drivers of crime.”

“We have to be more proactive, not reactive, so that’s where I want to put most of my attention,” he said.

Signaling that more changes won’t go over well with the left wing of the Democratic Party, the Legal Aid Society said in a statement that Hochul’s latest push for a bail law rollback would accomplish “nothing of value and is in tension with well-established United States Supreme Court precedent protecting the presumption of innocence.”

“As legislative leaders have noted, continuing to falsely scapegoat bail reform only distracts from community investments,” the public defender group said.