The “debate” over NY bail reform & the impact of sensationalized media on reason is synthesized perfectly by a DM conversation this morning w/ a guy named Christian. Starts off w/ him citing an outlier tragedy & criticizing me for spreading propaganda. I decided to respond. 
I told him how the prosecutor in that case actually could have requested and the judge could have decided to jail the person accused. But that they were all so focused on running to the media to politicize a tragedy that they failed to run to probation to request a detainer.
Christian’s response, to a fact.
So I sent him the Newsday article that reported that, in the outlier tragedy he cited, the man accused could actually have been jailed under NY law. And wished him a happy Saturday.
Christian, to his credit, admitted he was wrong. But then proceeded to send me another local news story. This one of misdemeanor domestic violence caught on film to prove his point that thousands & thousand of other people should be detained pretrial on bail they can’t afford.
I calmly tried to explain to him some things about basing criminal justice policy on fear & anger, not reason.
I explained how releasing someone accused of misdemeanor domestic violence is nothing new. Thousands & thousands released before bail reform went into effect. And crime rates plummeted. “The only thing that is new is the media attention.”
I also explained how that individual released, if detained, wouldn’t have been for long. And how jail wouldn’t help him. But just exacerbate the issue. Jail creates more violence. And we all pay for that losing proposition— in safety, but also our taxpayer dollars.
I added a note of recognition about how hard it is to think outside the mass incarceration bubble. How we are all so hard wired to think instinctively that harshness, jail & prison, criminalization is the answer to everything. Including public safety.
Here is Christian’s response. Apparently it’s really “simple common sense” that jailing thousands of mostly Black & Brown people pretrial, most of whom will be released anyway in short order, is the answer to everything. Indeed: People benefit from “the incarceration process.”
Before I could respond he blocked me.
Fear is a powerful force. But the truth is that bail reform is already working. We’ve seen it over the last three decades. Massive drops in jail. Massive drops in violent crime.
More from me here: nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…
Fear is a powerful force. But the truth is that bail reform is already working. We’ve seen it over the last three decades. Massive drops in jail. Massive drops in violent crime.
More from me here: nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…
