By Bill Parry
In an effort to reduce the prison population on Rikers Island, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a new initiative that would divert thousands of poor defendants from jail.
The “supervised release” program would permit judges to release 3,000 eligible defendants to remain at home with their families and continue working while they await trial.
The $17.8 million initiative, with most of the funding coming from asset forfeiture money from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office, would expand judges’ options beyond setting bail—which could lead to unnecessary detention if an individual is unable to pay—or releasing a defendant to the community without a system in place to ensure the defendant returns to court without reoffending.
“There is a very real cost to how our criminal justice system treats people while they wait for trial,” de Blasio said. “Money bail is a problem because—as the system currently operates in New York—some people are being detained based on the size of their bank account, not on the risk they pose. This is unacceptable. If people can be safely supervised in the community, they should be allowed to remain there regardless of their ability to pay.”
The city began requesting proposals from non-proft organizations to administer the supervised release in every borough. Supervision could range from regular check-ins in person or by text message.
The model expands upon the successful pilots that have been operating in Queens since 2009. In the Queens program, operated by the Criminal Justice Agency, 87 percent of clients successfully returned to court and completed their requirements of participating in supervised release.
“This program moves the city towards a more fair and equitable criminal justice system by decreasing unnecessary detention for those individuals awaiting trial, while more accurately assessing public safety risk and the supervision necessary to prevent people from reentering the criminal justice system, ” NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
About 14 percent of all defendants who come through New York City courts are detained on bail at arraignment. While this percentage is low, it nevertheless amonts to 45,000 individuals detained on bail every year, officials say. While most detainees are high risk or facing serious charges, some are detained because they cannot afford relatively low bail amounts. Assigning a defendant to supervised release will be an option available to judges other than setting bail and participation will be free of charge for defendants.
“No one should be sitting on Rikers Island because they’re too poor to pay bail,” said City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest), chairman of the Courts and Legal Services Committee. “Yet 85 percent of defendants who have bail set at $500 or less cannot make bail at arraignment. Today’s expansion of the supervised release model as an alternative to pretrial detention for alleged misdemeanor and nonviolent felony offenders is the right move for courts and for taxpayers.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
