By Leslie Acevedo and Jariah Moore
TRENTON, NJ – Former New Jersey Attorney General Chris Porrino issued his opinion this past week about New Jersey’s bail reform, maintaining it works even though New York’s reform may not.
According to Porrino, New Jersey has seen a steady decline in violent and other criminal activity, with its crime rates being some of the lowest in the nation. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an increase in crime in New Jersey and across the country, he claims.
Political leaders are now arguing “bail reform” has caused this spike in criminal activity, and Porrino discusses the matter in his article, “Bail Reform: New York’s mistakes must not jeopardize New Jersey’s success.”
According to Porrino, there is no statistical relationship between bail reform and the increase in criminal activity, noting, “[Urging] that our political leaders exercise restraint before seeking to roll back a reform measure that was enacted with the support of leaders in both parties in all three branches of government, and has proven to be a national model in targeting the right people for detention and releasing on conditions those who pose no true threat to society.”
Porrino noted the New Jersey Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2017, referred to as bail reform, allows judges to “order the detention of any individual they deem truly dangerous or at risk of flight.”
And, said Porrino, the old cash bail system allowed for those who had the means of posting bail to walk out free and keep non-dangerous defendants in jail since they could not afford their bail, punishing those who were low-income and, by extension, perpetuating racial disparities.
Porrino adds when the Act was passed it was arduous to find the balance, but that balance was reached after “[c]areful bipartisan and significant negotiation.”
Writes Porrino, bail reform has been good for New Jersey: bringing fairness, equity, helping to reduce violent crime, and reducing the number of inmates. Also, “Programs instituted after bail reform will save $103 million between 2021 and 2026.”
The first reason why it would be a mistake to amend New Jersey criminal justice reform law is the Reform Act, which Porrino argues is effective, noting New Jersey has seen a decline in violent crime in the years after bail reform became effective, violent crime decreased more than 30 percent in the first two years, and New Jersey has the “[f]ifth lowest violent crime rate in the nation.”
As a result of the bail reform, nonviolent offenders are able to maintain their jobs, family relationships, pursue educational opportunities, as pretrial incarceration rates decreased over 20 percent, asserts Porrino, adding New York taxpayers no longer pay for incarceration as there is no increase in recidivism.
In contrast to the careful, measured approach that New Jersey took toward bail reform, New York’s attempt at reform ended in a system that ultimately failed, said Porrino, claiming this is due to the fact that the bail system in New York “does not conduct an individualized risk assessment based on the dangerousness of a pre-trial detainee.”
As a result of the lack of risk assessments, the crime rate in New York has risen considerably, Porrino maintains, citing, “Murder, rape, robbery, and felony assault” had risen by 36.6 percent.
Porrino has previously discussed his concerns regarding lobbyists from the bail bond industry using New York’s failed bail reform “[a]s a false basis to thwart and perhaps prevent model bail reform acts in other states.”
Porrino goes on to argue that to allow these lobbyists to throw off New Jersey’s successful model bail reform would be unacceptable.
The bail bond industry has shown distaste toward bail reform in the past, according to Porrino, who explains, “[the New Jersey Criminal Reform Act of 2017 was] only passed after Governor Christie called the state Senate and Assembly back from summer recess for a special legislative session devoted solely to bail reform.”
Nevertheless, bail reform in New Jersey was passed with bipartisan support and extensive study conducted, Porrino writes, adding supporters of the reform included “Republican Gov. Chris Christie, a Democratic legislature, and the state judiciary, and supported by prosecutors, police chiefs, defense attorneys, community leaders, and many other stakeholders, including the ACLU.”
According to Porrino, as a result of these efforts, New Jersey was the only state awarded with an “A” grade on its bail system from the Pretrial Justice Institute, a nonprofit organization.
Porrino describes criminal justice reform as “a work in progress.” According to Porrino, the Attorney General’s office and the state judiciary have previously taken up policies that both uphold the criminal justice system and keep the public safe. In his view, “legislative intervention” is not necessary in such matters.
He further argues that prosecutors and judges should be provided with the ability to conduct individual risk assessments. In doing so, he said, they will be able to keep repeat offenders behind bars and therefore better maintain public safety.
In Porrino’s opinion, tampering with the bail reform act runs the risk of ruining the “balance” between releasing those who have only committed minor offenses and maintaining detention for those who pose a threat to the community, adding, “once that balance is lost, the entire reform effort is at risk.”
