A push by left-wing activists nationally to eliminate cash bail, which they call a linchpin of progressive criminal justice reform, has been stopped in its tracks in a pair of Long Island, New York, counties.
The Republican district attorney candidates who won on Tuesday came as a rebuff against a New York criminal justice measure that removes cash bail for certain low-level crimes. It can be seen more broadly as voter reaction against changing the use of money bail, which criminal justice reform advocates say is part of a deeply unequal justice system.
The victories for career prosecutor Anne Donnelly in Nassau County and Ray Tierney, a 14-year assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, came as the Republican Party raised grave concerns about liberal bail reform measures, which GOP proponents claim have led to an uptick in crimes going unpunished.
The law, which took effect in January 2020, eliminates cash bail for most misdemeanors and Class E and nonviolent felonies, though state legislators quickly amended the measure in April last year to allow more situations in which judges can impose cash bail.
Lawmakers intended the bail reform measure to reduce the number of people jailed while awaiting trial simply because they could not afford to pay bail. However, public criticism mounted over the legislation after law enforcement and district attorneys claimed the law contributed to increased crime.
Assemblyman Edward Ra, whose district includes three towns in Nassau County, told the Washington Examiner the bail reform law came about after the state Senate flipped to Democratic control and it “suddenly had single-party rule.”
“We started to see, you know, maybe more anecdotal evidence of individuals that were getting arrested and being let out and then a couple of days later, in some instances hours later, were committing more crimes,” Ra said.
NEW YORK’S NO-BAIL LAW LEAVES A TRAIL OF VIOLENCE
Donnelly, who was deputy chief of the Nassau district attorney’s organized crime and rackets bureau, made her case against the reform law on the campaign trail this year, citing instances when inmates have been released pretrial despite the standing charges against them or previous convictions.
“I had to stand in court and watch people that normally would have gotten bail walk out of the courtroom laughing at the police officers, laughing at the district attorney’s office,” she told City & State in October.
The Republican candidate won 60% of the vote, with 145,766 votes to Democratic state Sen. Todd Kaminsky’s 97,299, or 40%, marking a 20-point difference. Kaminsky voted for the bail reform law as part of the 2019 state budget and later urged for amendments to address complaints about the law.
Democrats aimed to keep the district attorney seat in Nassau County blue, where it has positioned itself since 2006. Donnelly’s messaging effectively inspired enough voters to flip the seat on Tuesday despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans in the county, coupled with the GOP typically having an upper hand in off-year elections.
In early 2020, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo was one of the first to admit the legislation needed amending, saying in January that year, “We’re going to work on it because there are consequences we have to adjust for.”
But despite a number of New York defense groups criticizing the former governor’s view on the law, the recent victory by former New York City Police Chief Eric Adams as the city’s Democratic mayoral candidate shows the Empire State’s deep-blue roots are still tethered to policy that promotes law and order.
In neighboring Suffolk County, Democratic incumbent District Attorney Tim Sini failed to earn his reelection bid even though he was an early critic of fellow party members’ unwinding of bail restrictions in the state. The GOP candidate, Tierney, defeated Sini with 145,933 votes (57%) to 109,060 votes (43%).
Voters’ rejection of Democratic bail reform policy in the two Long Island counties will likely prompt the party to reconsider whether lawmakers have pushed too far to the left, despite the amendments made last April.
“There really was no restoration of judicial discretion in those changes, even though there were some crimes that became bail-eligible again,” Ra said.
The response to the liberal policy comes just one year after activists and organizations urged lawmakers to pass agenda issues such as reforming police departments. In some cases, there were calls to defund entire law enforcement departments.
Voters in Minneapolis, where George Floyd died in May 2020 while in police custody, rejected a measure with 57% of the vote this week that would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a department of public safety responsible for “a comprehensive public health approach.”
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However, the liberal city of Austin, Texas, made a step further to the left on Nov. 3 after residents voted to reject hiring more police while the city is reporting some of its highest homicide rates in 20 years.
While constituents in Nassau and Suffolk appeared to vote on a gut response to the effects of the state’s bail reform law, voters in Albany and New York City overwhelmingly supported civilian oversight of police forces, which aims to bring more transparency between police departments and the public.
