Gothamist: What The New Rollbacks To Bail Reform Mean In New York

“Someone who commits a felony while on probation or parole can no longer be released automatically. The same goes for someone with at least two prior felony convictions who is arrested for a new felony. Scott Levy, chief policy counsel for Bronx Defenders, said that’s overly punitive.

“What this really does is penalize and punish people for things that may be many, many, many years in their past,” he explained, “and allow incarceration of people who have not yet been proven guilty of anything.”

Defenders also worry about language that allows a judge to set bail on someone arrested for a felony, “where harm occurred to an identifiable person or property while out on a separate felony or Class A misdemeanor where harm occurred to an identifiable person or property.”

Levy said that clunky sentence is extremely broad because there’s no definition of “harm.” He said it could potentially include shoplifting or vandalism, and predicted vigorous arguments at arraignments whenever someone is rearrested.”

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