By Kelly O'Connell ——Bio and Archives--July 21, 2022
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Would former NASCAR driver Bobby East still be alive without the crazy change to bond and release now used with criminals across the United States? Bobby was stabbed to death at a gas station in So. CA by a homeless, violent felon in the Orange County city of Westminster. In fact, it’s the larger movement to relax incarceration on violent folks which is ultimately at play here, no doubt exacerbated by the drug tidal wave we’re drowning under.
The NYTimes writes, “The police named Trent William Milsap, 28, from Anaheim, Calif., as the suspect in the stabbing. Mr. Milsap was on parole for armed robbery at the time, they said, and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in an unrelated parole violation. His motive was unclear.”
Is bail reform behind the recent national spike in crime? Undoubtedly, it’s a major factor considering also the Defund Police revolt and other anti-law movements. Recall how violent protests, thieves and arsonists were allowed to engage in fiery melees without arrest across America during the BLM riots, just last year.
Major crimes soared in February in New York Y City & NY Police Department (NYPD) officials blame one change implemented: bail reform. The NYPD stated, “Criminal justice reforms serve as a significant reason New York City has seen this uptick in crime.”
New York is especially struggling with this rise in crime. But the NY City DA Alvin Bragg is also intent on allowing criminals out, as Fox News reports:
An accused serial shoplifter with 122 prior arrests was released again under New York state’s bail reform law despite even liberal Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office wanting him to remain in custody, according to a report. The NY Post reported Lorenzo McLucas, 34, was released on his own recognizance Wednesday following his most recent arrest for allegedly stealing from a business on Lexington Ave in Midtown Manhattan.
In general, Daily Wire reports:
According to the NYPD, compared to Feb 2019, major crimes grew 22.5%; in addition, the city suffered a 7.1% increase in shootings. Also a rise in robbery, assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny, according to Fox News, who added, “The NYPD says that in the first 58 days of 2020, 482 individuals who had already been arrested for committing a felony such as robbery or burglary were rearrested for committing an additional 846 crimes. 35%, or 299, were for arrests in the seven major crime categories – murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto – that is nearly triple the amount of those crimes committed in the same 58 days in 2019.”
Further, Barry Latzer, at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, explained:
The new law prohibits arraignment judges from demanding bail for certain defendants or remanding them to jail. Instead, they must release the defendant on his own recognizance (ROR). This release order supposedly does not apply to violent felony offenders. However, numerous crimes of violence or potential violence are found among the state’s so-called nonviolent felonies, including certain robberies, rapes, and assaults. And judges in NY may not take public safety into account when deciding whether or not to release someone. It is true that defendants who have been arrested but not yet convicted should not be punished. It is also true that without some security — cash deposits, bail, or jail — many thousands of these defendants will never show up for their day in court, and some will commit additional crimes once freed. The balance between individual rights and public safety is best achieved by letting the judges determine on a case-by-case basis who is a flight risk or a danger to the public and helping them make this determination through data-based assessments. Top-down, arbitrary decision-making by state government simply won’t work.”
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And although liberals claim no study establishes that such easy bail laws help create crime, this is not true. Consider the following Univ of Utah article investigating Chicago bail reform:
New changes to pretrial release procedures have led to a substantial increase in crimes committed by pretrial releasees in Cook County Illinois. Released defendants charged with committing new crimes increased by 45%, and new violent crimes increased by an estimated 33%. Official data undercounts the number of releasees charged with new violent crimes. These public safety concerns call into question whether the bail “reform” measures implemented in there were cost-beneficial. As Cook County’s procedures are state-of-the-art and track those being implemented in many parts of the country, and their experience suggests other jurisdictions are suffering increases in crime due to bail reform.
Unsurprisingly, states are beginning to push back against the national rush to liberalize bail reform. See the Source NM essay, “Proposal to erode bail reform gaining steam: A change to the law backed by the governor and other officials would destroy the presumption of innocence, attorneys say.”
Any change to lax bail laws will not save Bobby East, may he RIP. But it’s never too early to cancel a failed “reform,” when thousands of innocent Americans are now at heightened risk.
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Kelly O’Connell is an author and attorney. He was born on the West Coast, raised in Las Vegas, and matriculated from the University of Oregon. After laboring for the Reformed Church in Galway, Ireland, he returned to America and attended law school in Virginia, where he earned a JD and a Master’s degree in Government. He spent a stint working as a researcher and writer of academic articles at a Miami law school, focusing on ancient law and society. He has also been employed as a university Speech & Debate professor. He then returned West and worked as an assistant district attorney. Kelly is now is a private practitioner with a small law practice in New Mexico.