| December 22, 2022
Public defenders in New York Metropolis have accused Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD of improperly utilizing sealed prison court docket data to control public notion of bail reform’s influence on repeat crime, Matt Katz reviews for the Gothamist.
On the middle of the controversy? An August press convention the place NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and Adams castigated bail reform and pointed to 10 repeat criminals they referred to as “the worst of the worst.”
Public defenders together with a coalition from the Bronx Defenders filed go well with in opposition to town in Manhattan Supreme Courtroom accusing the NYPD of abusing civil rights by way of accessing data they’re not legally entitled to, sealed by way of dismissal, acquittal or downgraded prices. The Defenders already received a preliminary injunction in opposition to the NYPD in 2021 the place the NYPD agreed to instruct officers to not launch details about sealed arrests to the media. Metropolis attorneys argue the NYPD shouldn’t be precluded by the settlement from “compiling and disclosing knowledge” to affect legislators.
Past that, all 10 of the offenders official cited within the press convention not launched as a result of bail reform and had been eligible to be held on bail. New Yorkers charged with crimes whereas they’ve a pending felony cost or conviction in opposition to them or whereas out on parole/probation are eligible for bail even underneath New York’s bail reform legal guidelines.
