White Plains, NY DA Ending Bail For Most Misdemeanors !

[GOYABEAN]

Westchester DA ends bail for most misdemeanor cases
WHITE PLAINS – Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr. announced on Monday that his office will no longer seek bail in most misdemeanor cases. It is in an effort to promote fairness and end unnecessary incarceration for impoverished defendants.

Scarpino said too often defendants who pose no risk to public safety are locked up to await trial simply because they cannot afford to post bail. “This outdated practice is discriminatory and will end here in the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.”

Scarpino issued a directive on Monday instructing his prosecutors not to request bail for defendants accused of non-violent misdemeanors.

The DA said there may be exceptions to his new guidelines including cases involving a victim like in domestic violence, sex crimes, child abuse, elder abuse and assault cases; cases where the defendant injuries a police officer, firefighter, EMT or other first responders, or violently resists arrest; cases where the defendant has a prior sex crime conviction – felony or misdemeanor; cases where the defendant has a pending felony case, or multiple pending misdemeanor cases; cases where the defendant is on parole, probation, or supervised release; or cases where the defendant has prior bail jumping charges or a history of warrants.

 

[livingston]

Westchester DA ends bail for most misdemeanor cases
WHITE PLAINS – Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr. announced on Monday that his office will no longer seek bail in most misdemeanor cases. It is in an effort to promote fairness and end unnecessary incarceration for impoverished defendants.

Scarpino said too often defendants who pose no risk to public safety are locked up to await trial simply because they cannot afford to post bail. “This outdated practice is discriminatory and will end here in the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.”

Scarpino issued a directive on Monday instructing his prosecutors not to request bail for defendants accused of non-violent misdemeanors.

The DA said there may be exceptions to his new guidelines including cases involving a victim like in domestic violence, sex crimes, child abuse, elder abuse and assault cases; cases where the defendant injuries a police officer, firefighter, EMT or other first responders, or violently resists arrest; cases where the defendant has a prior sex crime conviction – felony or misdemeanor; cases where the defendant has a pending felony case, or multiple pending misdemeanor cases; cases where the defendant is on parole, probation, or supervised release; or cases where the defendant has prior bail jumping charges or a history of warrants.

That about covers most folks they arrest. I had a state LEO tell me once that a good share of his calls are to the same addresses involving the same people . .. Month after month...

 

[Toecutter]

If you are not convicted and found guilty you shouldn't be sitting in jail unless deemed a threat to the public. You are innocent till proven guilty if the court can't give you a trial in a reasonable time why are innocent people sitting in a jail waiting for court. Some jails can be very dangerous places such as rikers. Our jail and prison systems are totally fucked and need to be changed.

 

[Criticalt]

We pay for jails full of people caught with a bag of weed.
On the other hand, seeing that 95% of these accused will not show up for court, forcing PDs to look for them, causing us to foot the bill for more policeing.