Invest time, resources in bail reform (Times Union)
Times Union, March 29, 2020
Invest time, resources in bail reform
By Roger Juan Maldonado, New York City Bar Association President, and Sean Hecker, Chair of the City Bar Task Force on Mass Incarceration
This year, New York ended its 50-year-old practice of mass pretrial incarceration, which jailed thousands of people presumed innocent but too poor to afford bail. While these reforms will make the justice system fairer while keeping the public safe, they require time and resources to work. Ill-considered changes to the new system would be imprudent, particularly during a public health crisis that poses great risk to the incarcerated.