On bail reform To the Editor: The 2019 Bail Reform Bill is probably better called a Criminal Justice Reform Bill. It did much more than just make changes to the bail laws in New York. We have all heard numerous outcries that many of those changes were too much, and that a new reform bill is required. I agree that parts of the 2019 bill are not improving the system. However, I would not vote to repeal the bill, as many Republicans…
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Calculus, chaos, Cuomo An opinion column It was just one month before COVID shut the world down in 2020 and tempers were short in New York’s state Capitol. I don’t remember exactly why the governor and legislature were sniping back and forth, but I do recall sitting down for a mid-February meeting with one of Governor Cuomo’s top policy people. “I know it’s chaos around here,” I said to her, sympathetically. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with…
Otsego County’s DA calls discovery, bail ‘form over function’ Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl is stark and passionate about New York State’s criminal justice reform to the point where — absent modification to the new laws — he won’t seek reelection in 2023. He’s on the record with that pronouncement from late last year, frustrated that from his point of view, New York’s bail and discovery statutes don’t let him do his job. “With the combination of bail and…
Views Around New York State Suing Georgia over voting rights is just the start From The Albany Times-Union: Georgia was among a host of GOP-controlled states that in the aftermath of Republican Donald Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden for the presidency have intensified efforts to pass laws brazenly aimed at suppressing votes by people of color. Georgia and its defenders offered the weak defense that some of the provisions it passed will expand voting rights, as if a little…
Views Around New York Albany should make jail reform a priority From: Sochie Nnaemeka and TeAna Taylor. special to the Utica Observer-Dispatch. There’s no doubt that Albany is undergoing a transformation. Voters across the state turned out in record numbers to elect Democratic and Working Families champions to the Legislature last year, winning super-majorities in both houses. And this April, the results were made clear: New York passed a budget that provides historic funding to our public school students, tenants,…
EDITORIAL Fight Isn’t Partisan; It’s Upstate, Downstate If you’ve lived a while, how often have you heard predictions about the extinction of one party by the other? After Richard Nixon’s rout of George McGovern in 1972 and Ronald Reagan’s two terms, the Democrats. After LBJ overwhelming Goldwater in 1964, Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection and Barack Obama in 2008, Republicans. Only one Democrat was elected president between the end of the Civil War and Woodrow Wilson, 47 years later. Only one…
Salka Brings Bail Reform Message To Otsego County Again, Oberacker Promises Companion Bill ‘On Jan. 1’ If Elected Tuesday To State Senate…
Salka Press Conference Topic: Bail-Reform Repeal COOPERSTOWN – Assemblyman John Salka, R-Brookfield, has scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. Wednesday to discuss his bill, which would “completely repeal” last year’s Democratic bail reform. He will be joined by county Sheriff Richard J. Devlin Jr., as well as Republican Assemblymen Chris Tague, Robert Smullen and Brian Miller, who are all seeking reelection on Nov. 3.…
They Don’t Show, May Never Show, Prosecutor Asserts With No Bail, 2 Skip Trials By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – If Monday, Oct. 19, was a test-run on whether the accused would show up for trial under the state’s new bail reform, Otsego County failed. “We’re two-for-two on no-shows,” said District Attorney John Muehl. “I knew this is exactly what was going to happen.” Neither Joseph Mitchell, 36, New York City, or Eddie Holton, 35, Binghamton, showed…
CLICK TO WATCH TODAY’S EVENT Salka Press Conference Begins Tour Promoting Overturning Bail Reform If Elected, Oberacker Vows To Introduce Senate Companion Legislation ‘On Jan. 1’ By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com WAMPSVILLE – On the steps of the Madison County Courthouse here this morning, Assemblyman John Salka, R-121, announced his introduction of Bill A11067, which he said, if approved, would repeal the Democratic majority’s controversial bail reforms of 2019. Salka said he plans to hold similar press conferences…