They’re skipping bail — for now.
New York leaders largely adopted a wait-and-see strategy to President Trump’s government order Monday aiming to finish cashless bail — with some saying his edict wouldn’t apply to the Empire State.
Trump’s order gave US Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi 30 days to compile an inventory of states and native jurisdictions that, in her opinion, “considerably eradicated” money bail – and threatened to chop off federal funding for them.
However a slew of critics argued the chief order was vaguely worded and open to wildly totally different interpretations.
“President Trump has no idea of how the legislation works in New York,” mentioned Jen Goodman, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“New York has not eradicated money bail. His reckless menace to withhold federal funds would solely undercut legislation enforcement and make our communities much less protected.”
New York’s controversial bail reform went into impact in 2020, partially as a response to the suicide of Kalief Browder after he spent three years in Rikers Island’s jail for allegedly stealing a backpack.
The reform signed into legislation by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo largely eradicated bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, however stored it for violent offenses, together with homicide, rape and theft.
Many legislation enforcement officers and pols argued it led to a spike in crime from recidivists repeatedly let loose on low-level offenses.
New York lawmakers have repeatedly tweaked the legislation to make extra offenses bail eligible and to offer judges extra leeway to impose bail.
These tweaks, nonetheless, haven’t gone far sufficient for bail reform opponents, beginning with Trump.
“It began in New York and it’s been a horrible factor for crime,” Trump mentioned within the Oval Workplace on Monday.
Trump’s government order calls to establish states which have eradicated money bail for crimes that “pose a transparent menace to public security and order,” together with violent and sexual offenses, in addition to housebreaking, looting and vandalism.
Cuomo’s spokesman Wealthy Azzopardi dismissed the order, noting New York already makes most of these offenses bail-eligible.
“As New York has money bail for violent offenses, and repeat offender arrests have been reducing, it’s clear that the drafters of this government order don’t know the details about New York’s legislation, however it doesn’t matter because it’s very seemingly that this order — like lots of this administration’s EOs — received’t arise in courtroom,” he mentioned.
The order might play effectively with New Yorkers sad with legislators pushing bail reform, however it’s in the end not the correct option to go, mentioned Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow on the Manhattan Institute.
“It’s one other factor for the federal authorities to swoop in and attempt to management a state perform,” she mentioned. “Now we have a federalist system. It’s not superb for the federal authorities to take that over. It’s in all probability not constitutional. I don’t suppose it’s very constructive in any respect.”
State Meeting Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), a staunch defender of the 2019 bail reforms, appeared to downplay Trump’s government order and referred to as it a “distraction.”
“Presidents can’t unilaterally deny funding simply because they really feel prefer it,” he mentioned.
What funding in New York might find yourself on the chopping block was unclear, however the state and the Massive Apple every obtain billions from the federal authorities.
And any modifications to adjust to Trump’s order, even when in the end minuscule, nonetheless would require Albany lawmakers to vary the legislation for judges to begin giving bail to sure offenders once more.
All 5 of New York Metropolis’s district attorneys both declined or didn’t reply to requests for touch upon the order.
The order did draw reward from a slew of New York pols, from Mayor Eric Adams to his Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa to Upstate GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.
“Everybody is aware of my feeling concerning the revolving door — however we’ll see the precise affect on the town,” Adams instructed reporters previous to the discharge of the complete textual content of the order.
Sliwa attacked Cuomo, who can also be working for mayor, for passing the reform within the first place.
“Cashless bail has been a catastrophe for New York, fueling crime and placing harmful repeat offenders proper again on our streets,” Sliwa mentioned. “I’m in settlement with President Trump on this government order—any effort to remove it’s welcome.”
Stefanik, who’s eyeing a run for governor towards Hochul in 2026, mentioned she’ll lead the hassle in Congress to tighten legal guidelines round cashless bail.
“For too lengthy, New Yorkers have suffered violent crimes and even misplaced their lives attributable to Kathy Hochul and single social gathering Democrat rule’s harmful anti-police, pro-criminal insurance policies,” she mentioned.
Trump deserves kudos for recognizing what’s “happening within the stomach of the beast,” mentioned staunch bail reform opponent Michelle Esqueunazi, president of each the NYS Bail Affiliation and the Nationwide Affiliation of Bail Brokers.
“There’s no president in trendy historical past who understands the affect of crime the way in which Trump does,” she mentioned.
“This isn’t solely good for our occupation. It’s good for society as an entire,” she mentioned of curbing cashless bail.
Jennifer Harrison, founding father of the Victims Rights Reform Council, mentioned the order’s broad wording could possibly be a crime-fighting characteristic, moderately than a bug.
“The chief order could appear obscure on paper, however that vagueness might really be our greatest buddy,” she mentioned. “It offers the Lawyer Normal broad discretion, which hopefully means woke activist judges and Soros-funded progressive prosecutors can lastly be held accountable.”
Nonetheless, it’s unclear how the order shall be interpreted, mentioned Rafael A. Mangual, a senior fellow on the Manhattan Institute.
“The hope right here is that the chief order places stress on locations like New York and Illinois to revise their pre-trial launch guidelines,” he mentioned.
“The factor that he’s placing his finger on is that folks across the nation are sad with how bail reforms have been carried out.”
