Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced their offices will not seek monetary bail for most non-felony cases. The show of unity came after Governor Cuomo unveiled the 22nd proposal of his 2018 State of the State agenda. The reform package overhauls the State’s criminal justice system.

“For far too long, our antiquated criminal justice system has created a two-tier system where outcomes depend purely on economic status — undermining the bedrock principle that one is innocent until proven guilty,” declared Governor Cuomo on Twitter.

The Five-Pronged Reform Package repairs outdated laws governing bail, discovery, speedy trial, and asset forfeiture. It also puts in place initiatives to assist people transitioning from incarceration to the community.

The late Justice Bruce McMarion Wright detailed racism in the criminal justice system in his book, Black Robes, White Justice: Why Our Legal System Doesn’t Work for Blacks, over 30 years ago. Wright, who would have turned 100 years old last month, served on the New York Supreme Court and in criminal and civil courts. He witnessed first-hand the unfairness of the judicial system and contended that bail must not be used as punishment to unnecessarily detain people of color.

According to a New York Times article, written two days after Wright’s death, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association had nicknamed him, “Turn ‘Em Loose Bruce”. Wright had created quite an uproar in the 1970’s by setting low bail for poor and minority suspects. He and other civil rights activists sited the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This section of the Bill of Rights states that punishment must be fair, cannot be cruel, and fines that are extraordinarily large cannot be set.
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Jay Z, as executive producer, shed light on Kalief Browder’s story during a six-part documentary series. Browder at age 16 in the Bronx, was accused of allegedly stealing a backpack. The judge set bail at $3,000. Browder’s mother could not raise the money. Consequently, Browder spent 3 horrific years in Rikers Island (almost half of that time in solitary confinement) without being convicted of a crime. Browder committed suicide just two years after his release.

If the appropriate use of bail is to assure a court appearance of the accused; and if this individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty and he/she has roots in the community – why set excessive monetary bail for poor and disenfranchised people?

“If…New York’s other boroughs followed the lead of Manhattan and Brooklyn, the impact could be profound. Some 40,000 New Yorkers could avoid a cumulative 680,000 days in jail annually, waiting for trial or save $40m in bail owed to buy their temporary freedom,” writes Jamiles Lartey in The Guardian.