Killing Someone in New York is No Longer a Serious Offense

For updated information on bail bonding reform in New York, see our additional content.

• The New York Times Editorial Board Opens Their Mouth Before Checking Their Facts - January 2020
• Calls for Changes to NY’s Bail Reform Law Grow Louder - February 2020
• How New York Bail Reform Has Failed Us - February 2022
• Recall Efforts Seek to Correct Cash Bail Reform's Consequences - July 2022
• Facts: Enemy of the Bail Reform Movement - October 2022

The anti-bail saga playing out in states across the country has already stripped countless victims of their rights, created legions of fugitives and heaped millions of dollars of new costs onto the shoulders of taxpayers. New York State passed laws in November 2019 allowing people accused of crimes including vehicular homicide to walk free on the promise that they’ll show up for their court date.

But people who use their cars as weapons are not the only ones Governor Andrew Cuomo has decided are “victims” of the bail bondsman. He’s also decided that those accused of criminally negligent homicide and 2^nd degree manslaughter also shouldn’t be bothered by that nasty bail business. To the governor, these people are just like you and me, except they’ve killed someone. And in the governor’s world that’s no big deal.

Not Drinking the Anti-Bail Bonds Kool-Aid

While the governor goes about his business safely ensconced behind a phalanx of security professionals average citizens are the ones who will have to deal with the fallout from his mind-boggling decisions. And Orange County prosecutors have had enough. No one wants to see someone accused of some minor offense molder in jail because they’re broke. But finding a solution that works for those people is quite different from releasing someone accused of using their car to kill someone.

Orange County Assistant District Attorney Chris Borek also pointed out that the anti-bail measures signed into law by Governor Cuomo in 2019 would allow major narcotics offenders to walk as well. “We’re not allowed to ask for any amount of bail” Bolek says of such defendants. Which means the people who are flooding New York streets with drugs and ruining countless lives would also be caught and released. Because, after all, in Governor Cuomo’s world drug trafficking is no big deal.

Bolek stated that the 2020 anti-bail measures were short-sighted at best and are bound to do more harm than good. He claimed prior to their implementation that they would put public safety at risk and interfere with the ability of his office to prosecute cases. For those reasons and more he, along with many other legislators and law enforcement officials, want to see changes before the first of the year arrives.

Bail Reformers on the Defensive

At a time when legislatures and ordinary citizens nationwide were pushing back against the travesty that is the modern bail reform movement, Governor Cuomo embraced it as a way to score some cheap political points with his base. But the Governor’s actions may have been largely overlooked in the past, that’s no longer the case. The growing amount of evidence that catch-and-release programs don’t work has put his signature on this legislation under the spotlight.

But it’s not just Governor Cuomo who found himself on the defensive with regards to bail reform. The non-profit Arnold Foundation that has driven anti-bail movements nationwide - including right here in Jefferson County - also found themselves in hot water.

So hot, in fact, that they’ve begun to distance themselves from their own widely adopted “risk assessment algorithm”. In case you’re not familiar with that, it’s a computer program the foundation developed in secret that decides whether someone is released pending their court appearance or held over. Many states have adopted risk assessment algorithms. However, most states have seen a subsequent increase in repeat offenders and skyrocketing numbers of defendants who don’t show up in court. Which makes sense because there’s no longer any monetary incentive for them to do so.

Farewell Arnold Foundation, And Good Riddance

In the face of growing opposition, the Arnold Foundation decided that bail reform wasn't as important to them as they'd previously let on. They also tacitly admitted that their pet project - their proprietary risk assessment algorithm - doesn’t really work all that well. And, in what many bail reform advocates saw as a flat-out betrayal, they also quietly announced they are abandoning their non-profit status and becoming a for-profit enterprise henceforth to be known as “Arnold Ventures”.

This, they claim, will enable them to strengthen their commitment to their dystopian dream of a bail-free America, where all criminals can walk the streets unencumbered by the fear of jail. Many however, see this as the first step in a pivot away from a controversial issue. And with Arnold withdrawing from the fight it will be increasingly difficult for so-called “reformers” to continue justifying their nonsensical anti-bail bonding positions.

The Coming Mass Release of Inmates

The news that the Arnold Foundation quietly scaled back their anti-bail crusade should be music to the ears of all citizens. But for states that eliminate bail bonding anyway, potentially dangerous individuals with a variety of charges could be released with no cash bail system to help ensure their return.

That includes people accused of vehicular homicide, criminally negligent homicide, 2^nd degree manslaughter, major narcotics offenses and more. Of course, in the tightly guarded environment in which the Governor operates this shouldn’t be a problem. For all the rest of you ordinary citizens however, well, Govorner Cuomo would say that you simply worry too much.