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Thanks to the bail reform laws initiated by Democrats around the nation, and in New York City and California in particular, not only is crime surging in the aftermath, but repeat criminals are emboldened and laughing at the authorities making statements like: “You can’t touch me! I can’t be stopped!”
Bail reform laws are causing criminal chaos in New York City, but they weren’t the first to enact such legislation. Democratic-majority California was the first state in the nation to move to eliminate the cash bail system.
Now, several other large metropolitan cities and states have or are in the process of reforming bail laws including the cities of Philadelphia and Houston, as well as the states of Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri.
Because of the new bail reform laws in New York City, one career criminal was immediately released after his 139th arrest.
Charles Barry, 56, has already been arrested six times since the beginning of 2020. Barry has a lengthy record, including 6six felonies, 87 misdemeanors, and 21 missed court hearings, as well as serving various stints in state prison.
This time, Barry was arrested for allegedly snatching a $50 bill from a woman’s hand as she attempted to buy a metro card from a subway station machine.
Police said that, in other crimes, Barry has dressed as MTA officials, then robbed people after offering to help them purchase their tickets.
Last week, as reporters were gathered around him as officers prepared to transport him to Manhattan Central booking, Barry yelled: “Bail reform, it’s lit!”
“It’s the Democrats! The Democrats know me and the Republicans fear me,” Barry added. “You can’t touch me! I can’t be stopped!”
“I’m famous! I take $200, $300 a day of your money, cracker! You can’t stop me!” Barry continued shouting to reporters. “It’s a great thing. It’s a beautiful thing. They punked people out for bullsh*t crimes.”
Repeat offenders like Barry are released and repeat the same crimes, as judges cannot order them to be held in jail before trial, a high-ranking New York City Police Department official said, and added that what sometimes starts out as a nonviolent crime often turns violent if the attempted robbery starts to go awry.
“When someone doesn’t pay them or give them the money, it’ll turn into a robbery, a slashing, an assault,” an assistant NYPD chief said. “At least before, at least he’d be remanded and be behind bars for a couple of days – he wouldn’t be able to victimize people.”
Because the new bail reform laws arrest and immediately release some criminals, a number of them have gone right back out and committed crimes again. Here are a few examples…
Bank robber: A man who was arrested in connection with four Manhattan bank robberies promptly robbed a fifth bank in Brooklyn after his release.
And because the man allegedly used a note for the robbery, rather than a gun, no New York jail can hold him – no matter how many times he strikes. The alleged grand larcenies are classified as nonviolent felonies and are no longer bail eligible.
Serial slugger: A homeless man with a history of unprovoked street attacks was arrested, and then immediately released. Only a few hours later, the man engaged in another attack against a 23-year-old woman.
He slugged the woman so hard in the face that he knocked out two of her teeth. A few hours later, he attacked a 35-year-old woman, kicking her in the back of the head.
Again, the man was arrested and released, this time on “supervised release.”
Dog fighting ring walks free: 3 men were arrested on dog fighting charges, and were also in possession of drugs and guns. While authorities seized the abused pups, the men were immediately released and no felony charges were filed.
In addition to bail reform, California has lessened penalties and enforcement of certain criminal laws with the aim of reducing prison populations.
But the passage of Proposition 47, the “Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative,” has had some unintended consequences. Among the crimes seen a surge as a consequence of this lenience is property crimes and motor vehicle break-ins, which have then surged after the passage of Prop 47.
It has allowed vandals and thieves to operate with near impunity.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has finally acknowledged that the only factor that has changed in New York City that could be attributable to the rise in crime is the change in bail laws.
“We had, for six years, steady decreases in crime across the board. There’s not a whole lot of other environmental things that have changed recently,” de Blasio said based on new data that demonstrates crime has soared following the new laws taking effect at the beginning of 2020.
“It sort of stands out like a sore thumb that this is the single biggest new thing in the equation and we saw an extraordinary jump.”
“Of course there’s always a possibility this is plain statistical variation, that happens sometimes,” de Blasio added. “But I think it’s pretty clear that there’s only one new major piece in the equation.”
Now that the writing is clearly on the wall, it’s apparent to everyone that the new laws are simply too lenient to provide adequate protection for the community – and that includes New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“There is a chance now for the legislators to get it right,” de Blasio said. “They did some very good reforms, but there are also things that need to be done, particularly empowering judges to determine if someone poses a threat to the surrounding community.”
One person that’s not convinced there’s anything wrong with the new reform is New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). When asked by the New York Post if the new Bill reform law needed to be amended, AOC said it was too soon to make a good judgment call.
“What I would just say is that we should just give this time,” Ocasio-Cortez replied. “It’s been five minutes.”
“Give it a shot – We’ve had almost no time since these things have passed,” AOC told The Post. “So I would just say, in this environment with political pressure, to maybe just say let’s just slow down a bit.”
California actually initiated the bail reform act prior to it being included on the 2020 ballot and approved by voters.
The California Supreme Court began to implement the policies of Senate Bill 10, the California Bail Reform Act, ahead of time forcing a group called Californians Against the Reckless Bail Scheme to fight the legislation and get it put on the November 2020 ballot so that California voters could decide.
Two of the main arguments against the bill are its releasing violent offenders back onto the streets, as well as destroying a $2 billion industry, which includes 3,200 bail agents in the state.
