In recent weeks, criminal justice reform has been on the minds of many New Yorkers. This past January, Governor Andrew Cuomo released his latest bail reform proposal, which would effectively eliminate all current forms of money bail in New York. More recently, the New York Assembly and Senate have put forward bail proposals of their own, and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore has highlighted the “urgent need” for criminal justice reform in our state, especially when it comes to bail.

“Far too many defendants, presumed innocent under the law, are being detained prior to trial, not because of the risks they pose, but due to their inability to pay the amount of bail set in their cases,” the chief judge said in her State of the Judiciary on Feb, 26. “This is inequitable and contrary to our long-held belief that pretrial detention should be a carefully limited exception to the norm of liberty.”