Albany, NY – In response to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s remarks on New York’s bail reform law during yesterday’s joint legislative budget hearing, Stanley Fritz, Political Director, Citizen Action of New York, said:
“It’s astonishing that as a self-proclaimed “progressive” Mayor Bill de Blasio saw fit, again, to travel to Albany and continue pushing for regressive changes to the bail reform law. Time and time again, when given the opportunity to address the grave inequities in our justice system, Mayor de Blasio chooses to instead advocate for continuing the disproportionate criminalization of Black and Brown people not only in New York City, but across the state.
“Judges’ and district attorneys’ unchecked power to jail people pretrial is exactly what led to the mass jailing crisis to begin with. Introducing pretrial racial profiling constructs like so-called “dangerousness” rubrics would exacerbate the racial inequalities that the new reforms are meant to eliminate. Instead of undermining bail reform and trying to codify racial profiling in the law, the Mayor should focus on standing up for New Yorkers who’ve been victimized by systemic underinvestment, discrimination and racist policing.”