JEWISH SENTINEL

JEWISH SENTINEL • JUNE 18 - 24, 2021 13 hope the crimes will not be repeat- ed before the accused is due back in court. With the pandemic fueling an appalling increase in hate crimes aimed at not only Jewish institu- tions but at Asian Americans as well, prosecutors must have addi- tional tools to properly deal with individuals accused of repeatedly committing the same offense time and again with no fear of being de- tained or subject to bail. Under the bail reform laws passed last year in Albany, there are carve-outs allowing judges to impose bail among other pretrial conditions for misdemeanor cases involving domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as for some hate crimes when they include ar- son or assault in the charges. At a minimum, we should establish a similar bail eligible carve-out for all hate crimes, which currently can serve as an enhancement at the time of sentencing but not at the time charges are initially brought. There have certainly been abus- es in judges asking for high bail in cases where it was not appropriate, sometimes due to high media vis- ibility of the cases. Such instances should cause concern for all of us who believe a primary function of the criminal justice system is justice. But a broad-brush approach that strips those who are assigned to protect us – whether police of- ficers, prosecutors or judges – of the discretion to assess each case before them is a recipe for increas- ing crime, disorder and violence on the streets of the city. The current taking that same discretion away from the criminal justice system similarly ties the hands of officials who must be able to assess the dan- gerousness a particular accused poses the community into which he or she will be returned without ap- propriate supervision or incentives continued on page 21 By LIZ CROTTY I t’s time to reform the bail re- forms that have tied the hands of police officers, prosecutors and judges when dealing with de- fendants repeatedly accused of a wide range of offenses including domestic violence, assault, sex of- fenses, robbery, burglary and even hate crimes, provided they fall un- der provisions defining the acts as misdemeanors. I can accept the refusal to require bail for an arrest for a first offense, or maybe a second. But what dis- tinguishes me from other candi- dates in the campaign to become the Manhattan District Attorney is my belief that when an individual is arrested three, four or five times for comparable offenses, which happens with distressing frequen- cy, that individual should be put through the system and brought before a judge who should deter- mine whether bail or other pre-trial restrictions, including requiring mental health or social work inter- vention, is appropriate. That is what a judge in the Bronx tried to do when a man was brought before him accused of multiple and repeated offenses against synagogues in Riverdale – including breaking windows, stealing religious books and arti- facts, defacing property and more. The judge tried to impose bail but another judge overruled him and ordered the accused freed on his own recognizance. One can only restrictions on which charges are bail-eligible provide an incentive – one that should not be taken, but an incentive nonetheless – to tailor charges in order to fall under bail eligibility criteria when a straight- forward assessment of the fact of a case might argue otherwise. W e have seen in the federal criminal justice system how stripping judges of discretion in sen- tencing decisions has led to unjustly and disproportionately long manda- tory prison sentences out of propor- tion to the offense committed. In the New York state system, Every Case Is A New Case Repeat hate crimes beg further judgment OPINION The pandemic has fueled an appalling increase in hate crimes aimed at Jewish and Asian Americans. Liz Crotty believes her time in the courtroom, as both prosecutor and defense attor- ney, amply prepares for the position of Manhattan District Attorney.