“Today, Sen. Stewart-Cousins doubled down on the Majoritys’ dangerous criminal justice overhaul. Minority legislators, law enforcement officials and a bipartisan chorus of district attorneys believe that the law needs to be amended. Unless the Legislature convenes a special session to tweak the law, beginning January 1, pretrial detention will be eliminated for many dangerous defendants, including some accused of child sex crimes, cartel trafficking, domestic abuse and even homicides. It’s wrong and it’s dangerous.

“In her defense of this mess, Sen. Stewart-Cousins cited other states which have adopted criminal justice reforms, including New Jersey. She omitted some important information. In New Jersey, voters approved a referendum allowing judges to hold defendants until their trials if they posed a serious threat to public safety. It passed with 60 percent of the vote. There are no such provisions to promote public safety in New York’s criminal justice overhaul, and there was no such public engagement- Majority legislators stuffed the legislation into budget bills that they rammed through the legislature in the middle of the night without any input from law enforcement officials or the public.

“The Majoritys’ refusal to admit that they’ve made a mistake is as partisan as it is dangerous. They could achieve many of their original goals without compromising public safety. All it would take is a small measure of humility,” said Ra.