Even as prosecutors and police across New York are struggling to avoid disaster as one major wave of “criminal-justice reform” kicks in Jan. 1, pressure is mounting for yet another round.
New York City’s top legal-aid groups are asking the Legislature for everything from marijuana legalization to more restraints on police, as well as a softening of anti-prostitution laws and new early-release rules for older felons.
Yes, the list includes some good (or at least defensible) ideas. But the current Legislature seems all too likely to simply give “reformers” everything they ask — without any input from the law-enforcement community.
That’s what lawmakers did this year, ignoring even solidly progressive district attorneys as they upended the system. As a result, judges soon will be unable to require bailunless the charges involve a handful of violent crimes. Hundreds of inmates across the state will be sprung from jail this month in advance of the Jan. 1 changeover.
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