Gothamist: How Will De Blasio’s Bail Reform Actually Work?
After news of Kalief Browder’s suicide, many advocates called on Mayor de Blasio to fix New York’s draconian and unfair bail system. On July 8th, Mayor de Blasio responded by announcing a new bail reform for New York City’s court systems. People charged with certain misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies would have the option of supervised…
New York Times: The Bail Trap
Every year, thousands of innocent people are sent to jail only because they can’t afford to post bail, putting them at risk of losing their jobs, custody of their children — even their lives. Two years later, that may be changing. This summer, the New York City Council took a tentative step toward reform by…
Huffington Post: How The Obama Administration Is Helping Big Bank Felons
So much for that tough talk about holding Wall Street accountable for its crimes. With the blessing of the White House and the Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is attempting to sneak through a major policy change that would enable big banks convicted of felonies to continue lending through a federal…
Bronx Freedom Fund awarded the 2015 National Criminal Justice Association Outstanding Criminal Justice Program Award
On Tuesday, August 4th, 2015, The Bronx Freedom Fund received the award from the National Criminal Justice Association for “outstanding criminal justice program” in the Northeast Region. Alyssa Work, Project Director of The Bronx Freedom Fund, Robin Steinberg, Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders and co-founder of The Bronx Freedom Fund, and David Feige, co-founder…
NationSwell: Each Day, 731,000 People Are in Jail. How Many Are There Simply Because They Can’t Afford to Make Bail?
The Big Apple is fixing one of the biggest problems with the criminal justice system. Kalief Browder spent three years in jail despite never being convicted of a crime. He was arrested for a stealing a backpack in the Bronx — a crime the then 16-year-old maintained he didn’t commit. His mother was unable to…
City Limits: Experts Debate Whether de Blasio Plan Can be Better than Bail
About 1,000 times a week in New York City, a judge tells a defendant who is presumed innocent that he or she can pay for their freedom by putting up bail—an amount of money that will be forfeited if the defendant fails to show up for court. Because many people are arrested on fairly minor…
BxD Attorneys and Social Workers present at the 4th National Parent Attorney Conference
On July 22-23, 2015, The Bronx Defenders’ Attorneys and Social Workers presented on three panels at the 4th National Parent Attorney Conference: Achieving Justice Against the Odds in Washington, DC. Bronx Defenders presenting at the conference include Managing Director of the Family Defense Practice Emma Ketteringham, Family Defense Attorney Jessica Horan-Block, Family Defense Social Worker Caitlin Becker, and Family…
The Jewish Voice: City Council Holds Hearing to Examine the NY Bail System
The Courts & Legal Services Committee and the Fire & Criminal Justice Services Committee recently held a joint hearing, ‘Examining the New York Bail System and the Need for Reform.’ The hearing, chaired by Council Member Rory Lancman and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, looked at how to reform our dysfunctional bail system. “Our bail system…
City Limits: Skeptical of Bail System—and of Plans to Reform It
In a move heralded as a reform to the city’s criminal justice system, Mayor de Blasio recently unveiled a $17.8 million plan to replace bail with “supervised release” for some defendants accused of misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies. Once the program rolls out next year, officials anticipate that judges will be able to order community supervision…
The Indian Panorama: City Council Holds Bail Hearing
NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Courts & Legal Services Committee and the Fire & Criminal Justice Services Committee recently held a joint hearing, ‘Examining the New York Bail System and the Need for Reform.’ The hearing, chaired by Council Member Lancman and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, looked at how to reform our dysfunctional bail system….
BxD Social Workers and Advocates to present at the 2015 NOFSW Conference
On August 21-23, 2015, four of The Bronx Defenders’ Social Workers and Civil Legal Advocates will be presenting on two panels at the 2015 National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOFSW) Conference in Arlington, VA. The 32nd Annual NOFSW Conference, entitled “Forensic Practice: Promoting Social Justice for All Through Policy and Practice Reform,” is committed to advancing a new…
Announcing Request for Proposals for 2015 Holistic Defense for Public Defender Offices Technical Assistance Project
The 2015 Holistic Defense for Public Defender Offices Technical Assistance Project Request for Proposals Deadline: August 21, 2015 Overview The Center for Holistic Defense, a project of The Bronx Defenders, is a resource center for public defender offices, individual advocates, policy makers and others who seek to adopt a more holistic approach to public defense…
Village Voice: Here’s What the Legal Aid Community Thinks of de Blasio’s Bail Reform Plan
Criminal justice reform advocates reacted with guarded optimism to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed bail reform package, designed to keep more low-level, nonviolent offenders out of the troubled Rikers Island jail facility. From police reform activists to the public defender community, those who work with some of the most vulnerable defendants say the program —…
The Problem with NYC’s Bail Reform
Our Executive Director, Robin Steinberg, published the following piece in The Marshall Project about the city’s proposal to reform the bail system: “Yesterday, the city unveiled a plan to largely eliminate cash bail for New Yorkers charged with low-level or nonviolent crimes. This long overdue step has the potential to reshape pretrial detention in New York City…
HuffPost Live: NYC To End Cash Bail For Low-Level Offenders
“The law is not the problem. The fact that judges routinely disregard the law and the options provided for under the law is the issue.” — Robyn Mar, Director of Early Advocacy New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to end bail for low-level offenders, allowing them to await trial under home supervision. We…
WNYC: New Bail Alternative Means Freedom for Thousands
Thousands of people accused of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies will stay out of Rikers Island under a $17.8 million pretrial supervision program, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday. The program comes as local officials try to reduce violence at the Rikers Island jails and while they grapple with concerns the criminal justice system discriminates against…
MSNBC: A victory in bail reform for criminal justice advocates
A nationwide movement for bail reform scored a significant victory on Wednesday, as America’s largest city announced a new initiative to reduce the number of people it forces to await trial behind bars. Starting next year, New York City will spend $17.8 million to supervise an estimated 3,000 low-risk defendants, instead of requiring them to…
Vice News: NYC to Eliminate Bail for Many Non-Violent Offenders
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to announce an overhaul of the city’s bail system on Wednesday that is designed to keep low-level offenders out of Rikers Island. The plan, which offers 3,000 offenders supervised release in lieu of bail, will help “reduce both the financial and human costs of needless incarceration,”…
ABC News: NYC Council Members: Suicide Points to Need for Bail Reform
The death of a 22-year-old man who hanged himself after spending three years as a teen jailed without trial should spur New Yorkers to push for bail reform, City Council members said at a hearing Wednesday. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said Kalief Browder’s death “has been a wake-up call for many in our city…
Commemorating clients’ strength and courage at BxD’s annual Celebration of Families
Last Friday, June 12, we welcomed over 30 of our clients’ families to The Bronx Defenders’ Justice Campus for an evening of festivities at the Celebration of Families! With musical performances by B.E.A.T. NYC, arts and crafts, a large meal with food donated by local establishments and staff, a raffle with all donated prizes, and inspiring client…
Observer: New York State’s Top Judge: Bail System ‘Totally Ass-Backwards in Every Respect’
In a country where criminal defendants are innocent until proven guilty, Kalief Browder spent three years in jail awaiting trial on charges of stealing a backpack when he was 16, because he couldn’t afford bail. The charges were eventually dismissed and Browder, who was never convicted of anything but had served a lengthy sentence, was…
Slate: The Problem with Bail
Former Bronx Defenders Trial Chief David Feige writes in Slate about the problem with the bail system and one simple way to fix it: On Sunday, John Oliver devoted the majority of his HBO show to America’s broken bail system. “Bail” is the cash or property equivalent demanded of arrestees as surety—an assurance that they…
Newsday: NYC may set up taxpayer-paid bail fund for low-level offenses
City Council leaders want to create a $1.4 million, first-of-its-kind city-financed bail fund to spare indigent defendants charged with low-level crimes from unfair and costly stretches of confinement at Rikers Island before their day in court. But criminal justice experts are divided on how effective a reform that would be, while one of the city’s…
The Bronx Defenders wraps up its 2015 Defenders’ Academy Spring Training Program!
The Bronx Defenders wrapped up another session of our nationally renowned Defenders’ Academy Spring Training yesterday. Over six days, 74 participants from over a dozen different organizations – ranging from public defender offices to private firms to the U.S. military – came together at The Bronx Defenders Justice Campus to partake in an intensive trial skills program…
The Bronx Freedom Fund receives NCJA Outstanding Criminal Justice Program Award!
The Bronx Freedom Fund has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 National Criminal Justice Association Outstanding Criminal Justice Program Award for the Northeast Region. Each year, NCJA honors five outstanding criminal justice programs at the National Forum on Criminal Justice. Award winners are selected by a panel of criminal justice experts to recognize innovative…