ALBANY — A day after blaming judges for rising crime in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday ruled out serious discussion of changes to bail laws until January at the earliest.
The executive order comes despite continued calls for action from Mayor Eric Adams, a fellow Democrat, as well as small business owners and his Republican challenger amid rampant crime, often committed by repeat offenders.
“I’m ready to review everything, but let’s see whether or not the system can start working as we planned,” Hochul told reporters at a news conference in Albany.
“The legislature meets again next January and by then we will be able to assess the real impact of our changes,” she added.
That timeline leaves current laws in place ahead of the Nov. 8 election pitting Hochul against Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, who has made strengthening the state’s criminal justice system a key part of his candidacy.
Hochul also urged critics to remain patient after the enactment of small bail law changes that she said hit the “sweet spot” and were included in the state budget passed. last April.
The situation has even caused Democrats like Mayor Adams to call for a special session of the state legislature, whose 2022 regular session ended in June. But she pushed back on those calls to action.
“There should be a special session convened today to give judges discretion over many more offenses to weigh dangerousness, flight risk, seriousness of the offense and criminal record,” said Zeldin in a statement to The Post on Thursday, echoing Adams’ call. .
Major crimes like murders and shootings have risen 40% over the past year, according to the NYPD, with some high-profile cases involving suspected repeat offenders like 10 “worst of the worst” repeat offenders accounting for nearly 500 arrests over the past year. new limits on pre-trial detention took effect in 2020.
Asked about revising the far-left, pro-criminal cashless bail law, Hochul says there is no data to support this action, and when confronted with the data, she continues to kick into touch and refuses to act. She couldn’t have been more wrong,” Zeldin said in the statement.
The GOP standard-bearer isn’t the only notable pol calling on Hochul to support legislative action on bail laws months after Democrats in Albany made bail eligible. for additional offenses while relaxing some rules on how judges could jail repeat offenders.
Adams, who has backed Hochul for a full term, highlighted statistics on Wednesday showing that more than 80% of people charged with carrying weapons in New York over the past year have been released after arrest.
“Judges have tools they don’t use, but they need more tools,” he told reporters at a press conference when asked about Hochul’s diversion to judges. .
“This conversation is about that small number of dangerous people who are repeat offenders who have decided that ‘we can do whatever we want in this town and nothing will happen to us,'” Adams added.
Such arguments have failed to convince Hochul — whose strongest support is among liberal-leaning voters in New York City, according to a recent poll — to back calls to summon lawmakers to deal with bail laws.
“How much longer will the Governor and the Legislature wait? We need a special session to repeal their disastrous bail laws and restore public safety to our state NOW,” said Senate Republican Minority Leader Robert Ortt. tweeted Thursday, after Hochul said a special session was banned.
Members of the Senate and State Assembly are not expected to return to Albany until next year, but they could meet again if Hochul and legislative leaders recall them.
It happened earlier this summer when Democrats in Albany, who have supermajorities in both houses, reached a deal with Hochul on toughening state concealed-carry laws following a a controversial decision by the United States Supreme Court.
Hochul said Thursday that current bail laws could prove their worth given more time, especially alongside other initiatives to reduce crime, such as an ongoing anti-gun effort overseen by police in Washington. State that has seized 795 illegal weapons this year.
“It is not simple this on that. That will never be my strategy,” Hochul said while noting the increase in crime in other parts of the country.
She also insisted that while she wanted to change short-term bail laws, her hands were tied by state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and the president of Assembly, Carl Heastie, both of whom support the current laws.
“You bring back the special session when the legislature is disposed and an agreement is reached on certain changes. Otherwise, they gave a hammer blow, they gave a hammer blow. OKAY?. It is reality. I have to face the realities here,” she told the Post on Thursday.
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