Bail Reform Support

Plummets, Poll Says

ALBANY – A new poll out Monday shows support for the state’s bail reform plummeting, following weeks of pushback about the new laws from police groups and prosecutors, North County Public Radio is reporting.

The Siena College poll finds that just one third of New Yorkers now think that the January 1 laws that ended most forms of cash bail for non-violent crimes and shortened the time prosecutors have to hand over evidence to defendants is a good idea. When it was first approved last April, 55% of voters like the law.

Siena spokesman Steve Greenberg says the shift can in part be attributed to the public debate playing out in the media, where law enforcement groups offer examples of repeat offenders they say are going free because of the new laws.