There is an irrefutable correlation between the awful criminal justice reforms implemented by the progressive in New York State government back in 2019 and a sharp increase in murders, shootings and overall violent crime.
There were several lamebrained laws that were put into effect that gave criminals free rein to terrorize the people of this state.
The first was bail reform, which took away discretion from judges to keep the violent criminals behind bars. There’s nothing wrong with saying that poor people should be able to gain freedom pending a trial just as a rich person can, but the legislature went way too far in implementing this concept. New York became the only state in the nation that took away a judge’s discretion to keep behind bars an individual deemed to be a danger to society. That led to an opening of the jail cells and enormous recidivism.
Basically, the same small number of people are committing the overwhelming number of crimes in New York. They would’ve been locked up before the bail reforms by judges who could see their propensity to inflict pain on fellow New Yorkers. Unfortunately, that ability is no longer in place. While legislators have tinkered and pretended to reform the bail laws, they have refused to reinstate this key issue of judicial discretion.
The next crazy proposal was one that requires district attorneys to provide to the defense piles upon piles of information in a ridiculously short amount of time. It is so burdensome on the staff of the district attorneys that they have been pleading out cases at record levels and even refusing to bring charges against many violent perpetrators because they don’t have the time to dedicate to these crimes due to the new bureaucratic requirements.
Governor Hochul, after years of dragging her feet, is finally on board with reforming this measure. She is finally willing to use her vast powers to hold up the budget to get it passed.
She’s up against Assembly Leader Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), who has been the violent criminals’ best friend during his tenure. The Senate Leader, Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Westchester), is not much better.
Hochul has been a weak governor who has allowed the legislature to lead policy discussion in the state. (She even acquiesced to a legislative pay raise without getting anything in return.) This is despite the fact that New York’s governor has more power than just about any other within the nation because policy matters can be placed into the budget process. The budget can thereafter be held up until those policy matters are agreed to.
The final ridiculous bill put into effect years ago was raising the age to 18 for a perpetrator to be tried in the regular criminal courts. There was always a fear from some of the juvenile offenders who rape, murder, assaults, and commit other violent felonies would receive stiff sentences. But then, Governor Andrew Cuomo, in his quest to look progressive for a potential presidential run, threw in the towel and bragged about passing a law with the progressives to raise the age to 18 for the prosecution of these felonies in the higher courts.
It has led to carnage. Drug kingpins and other crime leaders know that they can have 16- and 17-year-olds do their dirty work. And if they are caught, they’ll get a slap on the wrist through Juvenile Court, and be out in a couple of months, at most.
This has led to an alarmingly high increase in the death of young people in this age bracket. It’s time to end this madness and reverse this horrible law.
Finally, Hochul is showing some gumption. Will she fold or will she hold tough? She’s up for reelection soon and she’s trying to appear as victim-friendly. It may indeed be a political ploy, but ultimately, what we care most about are the results.