Greater Justice New York
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Two Ways to Show Up for Black Lives in the Wake of George Floyd’s Murder
Bail fund donations and overhauling the money bail system
As police respond to the current protests with more violence and arrests, bail funds have seen an outpouring of support—collectively raising upwards of $30 million from tens of thousands of donors across the country in a matter of days. Some bail funds, like the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund and the Minneapolis Freedom Fund, have received so many do ...
Blog Post
Insha Rahman
On Bail Reform We Need Less Fear-Based Speculation—and More Data
Bail reform is working. But in a moment when many are questioning the impact of the new law, a lack of publicly available data in real time about other critical metrics—including crime and arrest rates—leaves open the door for bail reform opponents to highlight outlier cases and anecdotal information to claim that bail reform makes us less safe. We ...
Blog Post
Lauren Jones
Don't Let Fearmongering Drive Bail Policy
Crime in New York is at historic lows. Yet critics of bail reform, which went into effect on January 1, 2020, have been hard at work warning that bail reform endangers public safety—claiming that the law has led to a surge in crime. But, as these fact sheets demonstrates, it is far too early to reach any conclusion about the impact of bail reform.
Sticking with Bail Reform in New York
On January 1, 2020, New York ushered in a new bail law that delivers justice, fairness, and public safety. As a result, thousands of New Yorkers who otherwise would not have been able to afford bail, or only do so at great personal expense, have been able to keep their jobs, stay with their families, remain in school, and return to their communitie ...
New York, New York
Highlights of the 2019 Bail Reform Law
In April 2019, New York passed legislation on bail reform to update a set of state pretrial laws that had remained largely untouched since 1971. The relative lack of fanfare over the passage of New York’s new bail law belies its historic and transformative potential to end mass incarceration at the local level. What exactly comprises New York’s new ...
Here's How Bail Works
The criminalization of poverty in the justice system
Insha Rahman, program director for the Vera Institute of Justice, explains how the cash bail system criminalizes poverty in the United States. This video was produced in partnership with Global Citizen.
Supporting Bail Reform Is Good Business
There is no doubt that New York’s bail system is broken. Over 16,000 New Yorkers across the state are incarcerated because they cannot afford to post bail, at a cost of over $350 million a year to taxpayers to hold them in jail. Advocates, reformers, policymakers, and legislators have long been calling for bail reform in Albany. Yesterday, another ...
Blog Post
Anton Robinson
New York City Mayor Moves Forward on Plans to Close Rikers
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that he will move forward on plans to replace the Rikers Island jail complex with smaller, borough-based jail facilities. The mayor and the New York City Council reached an agreement to develop a single public review process for four proposed jail sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx ...
Blog Post
Vera Staff
First Lady of NYC Announces $6 Million Plan to Break the Cycle of Incarceration for Women at Rikers
Today, the First Lady of New York City, Chirlane McCray, announced a $6 million plan to help reduce the population of incarcerated women in the city. The proposal will provide much-needed support to NYC’s incarcerated women by improving the frequency of family visits, building access to mental health services, and providing programs such as career ...
Blog Post
Vera Staff
Cuomo Outlines Plans to Bring ‘More Perfect Justice’ to New York
Accused of stealing a backpack, 16-year-old Kalief Browder spent three years incarcerated in New York City’s Rikers Island jail, waiting for a trial that never happened. Too poor to pay the bail set in his case, Browder became the victim of a justice system that bases personal liberty solely on an ability to pay. Though Browder’s case was ultimatel ...
Blog Post
Jack Duran
While Announcing Landmark Reforms, Cuomo Highlights Further Need for Justice Reform Across New York State
Across New York, momentum is building to end mass incarceration. Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in his State of the State address that he will propose the elimination of cash bail in certain cases, as well as several other criminal justice reforms—including speedy trial and improved due process—during the 2018 legislative session. Here ...
Blog Post
Karina Schroeder