Promised Criminal Justice Reforms Fail to Pass with the New York State Budget Agreement

New York City’s five top public defender organizations are pressuring the state for change after they were led to believe that criminal justice reforms would be included in the state’s most recent budget passed by the legislature – but were not.

The reforms, proposed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, would have included restrictions to pre-trial detention, provisions to ensure a speedy trial, and would allow defendants to access the prosecution’s evidence prior to entering into a plea agreement.

“Changes like the ones proposed by Gov. Cuomo are designed to make the criminal justice system work in a manner that is fair to all individuals charged with crimes,” said Derrick Hogan, Albany criminal defense attorney of Tully Rinckey, PLLC. “So much discussion has been devoted to the manner in which the current structure unfairly impacts individuals of color and those without access to financial means that nearly everyone is aware of it, but the legislators positioned to do something about it were unable to carry through.”

Two of the most prevalent issues are pre-trial detentions and speedy trials. New York’s court system is incredibly strained by the sheer number of cases it handles yearly. This has led to situations where individuals are charged with low-level crimes and do not have the financial ability to pay for the bail imposed. This inability to “bail out” means that these individuals are placed in the general prison population until their court date. In some cases, this turns into years of unnecessary or even incorrect incarceration for someone charged with a crime.

The concept of giving a defendant access to all of the prosecution’s evidence during the plea bargain process is something that can also address caseload and pre-trial detention issues. By allowing a defendant and their attorney to review the state’s evidence while negotiating a plea bargain, defendants and attorneys are more likely to come to a resolution prior to trial. Consequently, pre-trial detention, if necessary, would be shorter.

Legislators have indicated that these reforms remain a top priority, but with several looming special elections the timing of these changes is now uncertain.

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