Advocates for criminal justice law changes are still waiting to see a legislative deal that would end cash bail for many charges.
Neither the Assembly or Senate budget resolutions this week contained the measure. That could be good news for supporters of ending cash bail, however, as the Legislature works toward an agreement outside of the budget.
“Neither the Senate nor the Assembly included bail reform proposals in their one-house budgets, so legislative leadership must pass meaningful bail reform immediately and before April 1st,” said Rena Karefa-Johnson, the New York state criminal justice reform director of the group FWD.us. “There is no time for more excuses, delays, or broken promises. Our current system has wreaked havoc on poor, black and brown communities, undermined the presumption of innocence and wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.’
Lawmakers for the last several weeks have been trading language on potential deals for cash bail. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he would not sign off on a budget agreement without a cash bail plan in place.
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