


Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state’s final spending plan will loosen limits on cash bail.
Even if she truly gets her way, will judges — especially in New York City — actually use that discretion to lock up more clear threats to public safety?
The gov’s “conceptual agreement” with the Legislature’s leaders will apparently remove the mandate that jurists impose “least restrictive” conditions that still ensure accused criminals won’t flee.
But they still haven’t agreed on the law’s exact new language, and the devil’s in the details.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins might yet get new language that renders the relatively minor change meaningless — and many serious crimes will remain no-bail in any case.
Plus, the same political machines that elected the legislators who gutted the bail laws in the first place also choose most state judges.
And plenty of judges seem hostile to jailing anyone. Some recent examples:
Every defendant is presumed innocent.
But some crimes are so heinous, and some accused so incorrigible, that pretrial detention is clearly warranted.
Except it’s not so clear under New York law, or to many New York City judges.
We hope Hochul at least actually won the minor fix she claims, but at best it’ll mean only a small gain for the safety of a public that New York politicians seem to hold in contempt.