Miguel was locked up on $1500 bail for a suspended license. Lost job. Suffered horrors of Rikers. Once out couldn’t find another job, afford rent. Had to move out of NY w/ his family. Thanks to bail changes in 2020, this won’t ever happen to someone again.
Paul was jailed for 20 days on bail he couldn’t afford. “I lost all my stuff. Me & my son, we struggling. I had a job. Now I don’t. He just recently had a birthday. I couldn’t buy him nothing.” In 2020, new bail laws will stop this from happening again.
Tammy, struggling w/ addiction, pled guilty 16x to crimes on *same day of arrest* fearful bail might be set. Come 2020, no one will have to make the decision again at first appearance whether to plead guilty just to avoid jail time. They’ll be released.
I represented a man arrested for stealing redbulls & a pack of cigarettes from a bodega. Charged w/ burglary. Spent *9 months on Rikers* because he couldn’t afford $7500. Come January 2020, he’d be released & get needed services instead of Rikers violence. 
A client stole bikes from various lobbies. Down & out. Disabled, trying to support family. Charged w/ “violent” burglary bc a lobby considered a “dwelling.” 1st ever arrest. Bail: $20k. Locked up 2.5 weeks. Traumatized. Now in treatment. Come 2020, he wouldn’t be jailed first.
Marvin spent 11 months on Rikers. For drug possession. Prosecutors withheld the most critical piece of evidence: drug lab. The pressure to plead got better of him. Come January, it will be illegal to withhold evidence from and/or jail people like Marvin.
Akeem. 9 months on Rikers while prosecutor withheld video evidence that ultimately helped win his case. The person on video not him. *NY law* allowed this. New bail & discovery reforms starting in 2020 will reduce pretrial detention & wrongful convictions.
Here is the Staten Island DA *defending* his decision to request 6 months in jail OR $5K bail for a starving homeless man who stole a sandwich. This is why ending bail for misdemeanors in NY is so critical.
1 sandwich: $2
1 arrest for stealing sandwich: $1750
1 night on Rikers: appx. $800
6 months Rikers (he’d be out in 4): $96k
Sandwiches he could afford after release: 0
Chances hed need to steal to survive again: 100%
Sense our punishment system makes: None.thecity.nyc/2019/10/new-yo…
1 arrest for stealing sandwich: $1750
1 night on Rikers: appx. $800
6 months Rikers (he’d be out in 4): $96k
Sandwiches he could afford after release: 0
Chances hed need to steal to survive again: 100%
Sense our punishment system makes: None.thecity.nyc/2019/10/new-yo…
In 2020, common sense laws begin in NY that are no more than a continuation of the measured, steady decline in those detained pretrial. Ending cash bail for misdemeanors & non-violent felonies. Early, automatic evidence disclosure. These reforms save lives & money& make NY safer.
Prosecutors & police are freaking out about common sense bail & discovery reforms. Not bc the status quo is fair or deters “crime.” Doesnt. It costs a fortune, separates families, & increases recidivism. They fight change bc it threatens their power. So they fearmonger.
The system NY prosecutors/police are now fighting to maintain:
87% cant afford bail set
89% on Rikers are Black/Latino
100% jailed too poor to buy freedom
95% of people return w/o bail
$828/nt cost of Rikers
$300k/yr per person
9x more likely to plead
87% cant afford bail set
89% on Rikers are Black/Latino
100% jailed too poor to buy freedom
95% of people return w/o bail
$828/nt cost of Rikers
$300k/yr per person
9x more likely to plead
If we don’t give changes to the status quo of mass punishment a chance, if we instead listen & react to cynical scare tactics of pro-carceral bureaucrats, we are doomed as a society to 2.3 million incarcerated continuing to rise, & Black & Latino communities continuing to suffer.
