Don’t Rollback Bail Reform

More than 100 New York State Jewish Leaders: Don’t Rollback Bail Reform, Governor Cuomo

March 20, 2020

The Honorable Andrew Cuomo
Governor of New York State
New York State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo,

We write to you today as leaders of New York’s Jewish community. We stand together as individuals and organizations representing our community’s diversity, racially and ethnically, religiously, and geographically, from throughout our state. Our conviction stems from our Jewish values.

At the outset, we would like to commend your proactive handling of the coronavirus pandemic, under which you have consistently put the public health and safety of New Yorkers ahead of political expediency.

Today, we ask you to stand firmly against efforts to rollback or revise the state’s bail reform law and continue the statewide leadership that brought about bail reform in the first place. We note that we do not stand alone: a brand new statewide poll demonstrates that the public still strongly supports these reforms — in every region of New York State.

We are disturbed by the unjust attempts to revise the bail reform measures you signed into law last year and that have been in effect only a little over two months. Although we do not know the precise changes that are being considered, we are deeply concerned that short-term political expediency threatens to eviscerate bail reform. Any alterations to the law that expand the number of people potentially subject to pretrial jailing or that weaken the discovery reforms will perpetuate the racial and economic inequality that bail reform counteracted.

As you noted in 2018, “The blunt ugly reality is that too often, if you can make bail, you are set free, and if you are too poor to make bail, you are punished.” The injustice and inequality of the cash bail system before bail reform was adopted arose from the devastating impacts of extended pretrial detention on individual lives: the trauma of jail contributing to recidivism; the loss of jobs and housing; and the impact on families and children. New York enacted bail reform to rectify these injustices and put an end to a system of mass pretrial incarceration.

Bail reform has worked, lowering the number of individuals in pretrial detention. During our current public health crisis, in which social distancing is paramount, bail reform helps reduce crowding in our jails and can save lives. At a time of crisis, while attention is diverted elsewhere, and while limiting population density is key, we should not make changes that would put or keep more people in jail, especially those who are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.

In the Jewish tradition, we are taught that every human being is made in the divine image, b’tzelem elohim, and are therefore equally worthy of fairness and equality. The Bible teaches: “Do not deny justice to a poor man when he appears in court” (Exodus 23:6). This righteous commandment of equal justice lies at the core of the bail reform measures you championed, just as it lies at the core of our Jewish and American traditions. To undo these measures now, returning us to jailing hundreds or thousands of presumptively innocent New Yorkers who have not been convicted or had a trial under a racially discriminatory system, upends the principle of innocence before proven guilty, and creates disparity before the law. It also represents a dangerous rush to judgement for a law that has only been in effect less than three months.

New Yorkers recognize the necessity of criminal justice reform to reduce mass incarceration and remove systemic inequality from the criminal justice system. Bail reform is the cornerstone of this reform. Rolling it back will have consequences that extend beyond the bail issue itself. Your leadership is critical.

Sincerely,