Nassau County's Republican Majority Calls On Albany To Repeal Cashless Bail Law
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Some Long Island lawmakers are calling on Democratic leaders in Albany to repeal the state's cashless bail law.
They argue it has eroded public safety, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported Monday.
Nassau's Republican-controlled legislature and County Executive Bruce Blakeman were sworn into office Monday afternoon on the coattails of bail reform.
"Criminals have more rights in New York State than victims. It's got to end, the madness has to stop, and I'm calling upon the governor to repeal the bail reform act," Blakeman said.
The police department showed off a slew of illegal guns, including ghost guns confiscated on the streets of western Nassau County during the past 12 months.
"You can't let a kid who's been arrested for a gun walk out the door the same day with no bail, no penalty, no reason why to return back to court," said Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.
In the past year, since bail reform went into effect and eliminated cash bail for most nonviolent crimes and misdemeanors, overall crime in Nassau was up 5%, with a 29% jump in illegal gun seizures. Twelve of those weapons were linked to bail reform.
Some experts said increases in crime during the pandemic are not due to a single factor, but rather to a "perfect storm" of events and changes, including to the economy and policing.
But campaigning against bail reform unseated former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini, both Democrats, and swept Republican Anne Donnelly into office as Nassau DA over State Sen. Todd Kaminsky.
"It's just really pushing this social justice at all costs," one person said.
"There's a reason that there's a sentencing guideline," said another.
"I think that there's a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding," another person said.
"If Bruce Blakeman wants to make a difference on bail reform, he'll try to form a coalition with Republicans and Democrats," said Lawrence Levy of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.
Blakeman said he's going to Albany on Tuesday to push victims' rights bail reform.