Why? Outright lies. Racist fearmongering. A desperate media repeating a small handful of misleading stories cherry-picked by police, prosecutors, & lawmakers. In short, same reason voters got tricked into supporting mass incarceration in 1st place. Resist!recordonline.com/news/20200224/…
Truth: There are literally tens of thousands of people who’ve already benefited from the law. With families. Jobs & housing. Millions in taxpayer dollars saved. People showing up to court. No mayhem. But fear is such a powerful force. 3, maybe 4 cases at most is all it takes.
Truth: Pretrial detention in NYC decreased 74% in last 3 decades. Violent crime dropped 82% in same period. Brooklyn has practiced what bail reform now requires for years. Lowest crime rate in history. Don’t need to guess if reform will work. It’s working.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…
Real bail horror story: Miguel was jailed on $1500 bail for a suspended license. Lost job. Suffered horror of Rikers. Couldnt get another job. Had to move out of NY w/ his family. Thanks to bail reform now in effect, this won’t ever happen to someone again.
The media lies bail reform will lead to “mayhem.” Mayhem: Paul was jailed for 20 days on bail for misdemeanor assault. “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.”
.@nypost disparages people as “Jailbirds.” 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. Today, it is illegal to jail people like Marvin.
“Criminals!” Tammy, struggling w/ addiction, pled guilty 16x to crimes on *same day of arrest* fearful bail might be set. Now, no one has to make the decision again at first appearance whether to plead guilty just to avoid jail time. They’ll be released.
“Jail break!” 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 will reduce pretrial detention & wrongful convictions.
Last year, common sense prevailed in NY. Based on reason. Not fear. A continuation of the measured, steady decline in those jailed pretrial. Ending cash bail for misdemeanors & non-violent felonies. Violent felonies still bail eligible. These reforms save lives & make NY safer.
Prosecutors & police are terrified about common sense bail reforms. Not bc the status quo is fair or deters “crime.” It doesn’t. Jail costs a fortune, separates families, & increases recidivism. They fight change bc it threatens their power. So they’re using fear.
Police & prosecutors know that if the law lasts longer, data will show better outcomes overall. Public will be able to peak behind the curtain. See the lies they’ve been selling for decades. The law must be defeated. Not allowed to work. They’re doing everything to undermine it.
🚨REJECT FEAR: Police, prosecutors, & right-wing media are fearmongering to undo bail reform in NY. It's cynical. It’s dangerous. Now *you can do something at JusticeNotFear.org.*
Spread truth. Contact lawmakers. Report mistruths. Watch. Share.
Spread truth. Contact lawmakers. Report mistruths. Watch. Share.
