Bail Reform News Archive

Citing our report on New York City's jail population under COVID-19 and our forthcoming lookback on the city and one year of bail reform, The New York Times reports city jails are now more full than they were before the start of the pandemic. The Times found unsafe conditions and the fear of contracting the virus are fueling a mental health crisis behind bars, with rising rates of self-harm among people detained.

New York City’s jail population is close to reaching pre-pandemic levels. The Appeal reports, "The city’s jail population, now over 4,700, is largely the result of a growing number of people held awaiting trial. According to a recent report by the Center for Court Innovation, between the end of April, when the city took emergency COVID-related decarceration measures, and Nov. 1, the pretrial population incarcerated in city jails has increased by more than 28 percent."

WNYC takes a comprehensive look at the factors fueling the recent rise in New York City's jail population, citing our recent analysis of the impact of COVID-19 and of the two waves of state-wide bail reform.

Citing our findings of the surging number of people in New York City jails awaiting trial, The New York Times looks at how COVID-19 is disrupting the city's courts—imperiling not only people's health, but their constitutional right to a speedy trial.

When New York's bail reform took effect in January, it meant people wouldn't be behind bars because they couldn't afford their freedom. Some judges are skirting the intent of that law by setting alternative forms of bail, like partially secured bonds (PSB), at significantly higher rates. Our Krystal Rodriguez explains the intent behind PSBs.

The pretrial jail population in New York City has increased by nearly 16 percent since July, when the state amended a previously passed bail reform measure, reports the Hill. The article cites our study, which predicted the same percentage increase and found that under the amended law, 84 percent of total cases remain ineligible for bail.

Michael Rempel, director of jail reform at the Center, say it is far too early to draw any hard conclusions on how the new laws have affected New York, given that the policy has been in effect less than a year, and that COVID-19 has created "a series of confusing dynamics" within the criminal justice system that make it even tougher to study.

Krystal Rodriguez, co-author of our study, Bail Reform Revisited, presented in a webinar series with the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice to explore the impact of the 2019 bail reform bill and its 2020 amendments on the culture of pretrial incarceration during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in New York.

New York's bail reform "probably increases public safety, by avoiding the harmful effects that create recidivism." Citing our director of jail reform, Mike Rempel, Gothamist examines the campaign to link bail reform to violent crime.

Comparing it to the eternal debate between Spock and Captain Kirk on Star Trek, our director Greg Berman
writes about the public debate around New York’s bail reform law and how—and when—to judge the success of this new law.