BILL NUMBER: S5667
SPONSOR: ASHBY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to eliminating
bail; to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing a commis-
sion on public safety reform; and to repeal certain provisions of the
criminal procedure law and the lien law relating thereto
 
PURPOSE::
To refocus our criminal justice system on providing for the public's
safety while also addressing the inequities in the system. It aims to
achieve this by eliminating cash bail, creating a rebuttable presumption
against pre-trial detention for certain offenses, and establishing the
Commission on Public Safety Reform to examine data and provide guidance
on future reforms. The bill also seeks to provide judges with discretion
to consider the risk an individual poses to the community.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Sections 1 through 21 make changes to the Criminal Procedure Law to
remove references to bail.
Section 22 amends section 510.10 of the criminal procedure law to remove
references to cash bail, authorize detention where a principal poses a
danger to themselves or others, modifies the factors that courts can
consider when making a custody determination, creates a presumption
against bail for class E felonies involving theft and fraud and most
misdemeanors, identifies the misdemeanors that are eligible for pretrial
detention, and adds factors for courts to consider when rebutting the
presumption against pretrial detention.
Section 23 makes changes to section 510.20 of the criminal procedure law
to remove references to bail.
Section 24 removes references to bail and modifies the factors that a
court may consider when making a custody determination.
Section 25 through 31 make changes to the Criminal Procedure Law to
remove references to bail and procedures related to the use of cash
bail.
Section 32 amends section 530.20 of the criminal procedure law to remove
references to cash bail, authorize detention where a principal poses a
danger to themselves or others, modifies the factors that courts can
consider when making a custody determination, creates a presumption
against bail for class E felonies involving theft and fraud and most
misdemeanors, identifies the misdemeanors that are eligible for pretrial
detention, and adds factors for courts to consider when rebutting the
presumption against pretrial detention.
Section 33 amends section 530.30 of the criminal procedure law to remove
references to bail.
Section 34 amends section 530.40 of the criminal procedure law to remove
references to cash bail, authorize detention where a principal poses a
danger to themselves or others, modifies the factors that courts can
consider when making a custody determination, creates a presumption
against bail for class E felonies involving theft and fraud and most
misdemeanors, identifies the misdemeanors that are eligible for pretrial
detention, and adds factors for courts to consider when rebutting the
presumption against pretrial detention.
Sections 35 through 50 remove references to bail and procedures related
to the use of cash bail.
Section 51 adds a new Article 50 in the executive law, which creates the
Commission on Public Safety Reform within the executive department which
would conduct a thorough study and issue a comprehensive report on which
crimes should be eligible for pretrial detention and create and publish
a model risk analysis tool to be used by judges in making custody deter-
minations.
Section 52 establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Since New York's bail reforms took effect at the beginning of 2020, it
has been clear that both the lack of planning, training, and support has
hamstrung those on the front line implementing said reforms while the
actual changes to the system have risked public safety. One critical
mistake in the reform efforts is that as they sought to limit monetary
conditions they failed to consider other factors for determining whether
an individual should be detained such as risk to the public's safety.
What was left was a system where judges have two primary options -
release an individual on their own recognizance or set limited non-mone-
tary conditions of release (i.e. travel restrictions or maintaining
employment).
The result of this has been the release of individuals who have gone on
to commit crimes, and often more violent crimes. Additionally, the
reforms undermine any certainty of punishment for offenders while also
undercutting law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges. As
District Attorney David Soares has recently highlighted, crime rates in
the months leading up to COVID were skyrocketing in New York City for
crimes that had only just become non-bailable offenses - contributing to
a nearly 20 percent rise in crime.
At the same time, we need to move away from a system reliant on monetary
conditions that punishes those without resources and fails to consider
the risk posed by individuals before the court. Other states, such as
New Jersey were able to strike that balance between justice and safety
by eliminating cash bail, replacing it with a data-based risk assessment
to help determine whether releasing a suspect would pose a risk to
community safety, allowing defense attorneys and prosecutors to present
mitigating factors to the judge, and granting judges the ability to
revoke the release of individuals who are rearrested or fail to appear
in court.
This legislation seeks to move New York closer to New Jersey's success-
ful system by creating both a fairer and safer criminal justice system.
The legislation will focus our system of pre-trial detention on the risk
an individual poses to a community while also eliminating the inequities
of cash bail. It provides judges with the discretion to consider the
risk an individual poses while also putting in place guardrails for bias
by creating a rebuttable presumption against pre-trial detention in
cases of low-level offenders that can only be overcome where the court
finds a clear unreasonable risk to the community or where there is a
history of failing to comply with court directives. Lastly, the legis-
lation establishes the Commission on Public Safety Reform to ensure
future reforms are based on data, best practices, and consensus among
critical stakeholders.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
2023-24: S.5973, referred to Codes.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that sections
one through fifty of this act shall take effect on the ninetieth day
after it shall have become a law.

Statutes affected:
S5667: 170.25 criminal procedure law, 170.25(2) criminal procedure law, 170.50 criminal procedure law, 170.50(3) criminal procedure law, 210.10 criminal procedure law, 210.10(2) criminal procedure law, 290.10 criminal procedure law, 290.10(4) criminal procedure law, 330.10 criminal procedure law, 330.10(1) criminal procedure law, 410.60 criminal procedure law, 410.70 criminal procedure law, 410.70(1) criminal procedure law, 420.10 criminal procedure law, 420.10(1) criminal procedure law, 460.60 criminal procedure law, 460.60(1) criminal procedure law, 470.45 criminal procedure law, 510.45 criminal procedure law, 510.50 criminal procedure law, 510.50(1) criminal procedure law, 530.10 criminal procedure law, 530.70 criminal procedure law, 530.80 criminal procedure law, 550.10 criminal procedure law, 570.36 criminal procedure law, 570.38 criminal procedure law, 570.40 criminal procedure law, 570.42 criminal procedure law, 722.20 criminal procedure law, 722.20(3) criminal procedure law, 722.21 criminal procedure law, 722.21(3) criminal procedure law, 730.20 criminal procedure law, 730.20(2) criminal procedure law, 730.50 criminal procedure law, 730.50(1) criminal procedure law, 246-a lien law