More than half of Onondaga County’s jail population is currently being held in pretrial. A state bail reform law going into effect in January could help reduce that number.

The law will eliminate cash bail for most non-violent crimes and prohibit local courts from placing people accused of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies in pretrial detention. It is the first bail reform measure enacted in New York in almost 50 years, said Gary Pieples, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic and professor at Syracuse University’s College of Law.

Cases often take months to go to trial, leaving those in pretrial detention in jail for significant amounts of time, Pieples said. Individuals are placed in pretrial detention if a judge determines they aren’t eligible to be released on bail, or if the individual cannot pay the cost of their bail.

Of the average daily jail population in Onondaga County, 60% are being held in pretrial detention, according to the Vera Institute of Justice.

Under the new law, people accused of misdemeanors and certain non-violent felonies will be released on pretrial services. An agent, similar to a probation officer, will keep track of people released on pretrial to ensure they attend their court appearances.

“This should prevent people not accused of a violent crime from spending time in jail before they have been convicted,” Pieples said.

The state’s bail and pretrial detention reforms may endanger the public, said District Attorney William Fitzpatrick during a debate earlier this month for the upcoming DA elections.

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“I think they’re well-intended but some of them really jeopardize public safety,” Fitzpatrick said. “A man who breaks into your home can be released without bail, and the legislature, in their infinite wisdom, has not budgeted one single dime toward these pretrial services.”

Pretrial services do not make defendants more likely to flee before their trial, said Emily Singletary, co-founder of Unchained, a criminal justice non-profit organization. The legislature, however, should have increased funding for pretrial services, she said.

Unchained has compiled data on from watching court appearances. Singletary said. The group’s data shows that most people do not attend court appearances because of issues related to child care and transportation.

The state’s bail reform law was passed in April and will go into effect on Jan. 1. Reforms similar to the one in New York have already been implemented and discussed across the country.

New Jersey eliminated cash bail for low-level offenses in 2017. The state has since seen a 44% decrease in their jailed pretrial population, according to the state judiciary’s 2018 Report to the Governor and the Legislature.

California will hold a statewide referendum in November 2020 concerning a bill to eliminate cash bail, The Los Angeles Times reported. Cash bail would be replaced by a system that assesses the risk of releasing a defendant based on their criminal history.

For the past 20 years, Fitzpatrick has discouraged judges from setting $100 or $500 nominal bail — a relatively small bail fee — for low-level offenses, he said. New York state judges can currently set bailbond amounts between $2,500 and $5,000, according to Betterbail NYC.

Instead of advising a lower bail, Fitzpatrick’s administration charges bail that few can immediately repay, Singletary said.

“The district attorney’s administration has said, on record in court, that they consider $2,500 standard misdemeanor bail,” said Singletary. “(Bail is) supposed to be tailored to what the person accused of the crime can actually afford.”

Fitzpatrick’s office declined to comment on accusations of the DA instituting a standard $2,500 bail for misdemeanors.

Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner declined to comment on whether the current system of bail was fair or had unintended consequences for community members of adverse economic statuses.

Onondaga County’s average incarceration rate is almost twice that of the state, according to 2015 data from the Vera Institute.

“Progress requires change, but not all change results in progress,” Buckner said. “With that said, I think we need to carefully monitor our efforts going forward to ensure we have no unintended consequences.”

Published on October 23, 2019 at 11:11 pm

Contact Matti: mlgellma@syr.edu