We can fix bad bail reform by putting public safety first

As violent crime continues to shake America’s cities and communities, it has become clear that the left’s policies and progressive prosecutors are failing to keep this country safe. Crime rates remain at historic highs and yet, far too often our broken system resorts to one of these two extreme views as a solution: "throw them all in jail" or "let them all go."

By now, we all know better than thinking the criminal justice system is zero-sum.

Fortunately, conservatives have already been paving the way for real criminal justice reform focused on protecting society and protecting those who deserve a second chance. Conservative-led victories like the First Step Act, which was signed into law by President Trump, ensure the people who belong in jail stay, but that someone who has a chance at going back to their families, jobs, and communities gets one. 
Conservatives have also created a roadmap for state-based reforms.  

In Oklahoma, Governor Stitt has demonstrated that conservative criminal justice reforms focused on reducing the state’s incarceration rate can reduce crime and recidivism, while saving taxpayers millions. The state of Kentucky implemented conservative-led bail reform more than a decade ago to successfully reduce the number of low-level cases held before bars prior to trial without risking public safety.

Governor Perry’s leadership in Texas, the state’s expanded access to parole and reentry resulted in lower prison populations, lower crime rates, and taxpayer savings to the tune of $4 billion. And in Harris County, Texas, a coalition of law enforcement leaders and conservative advocates – including the local Crime Stoppers – has supported a misdemeanor bail reform that reduced recidivism rates while allowing prosecutors and cops to focus their energy on violent crimes.

18-YEAR-OLD SHOT TWICE IN PHILLY CITY HALL TRAIN STATION: POLICE

For all this progress, I’d argue the most urgent need for conservative principles to address rising crime and protect public safety has to do with the pretrial system.  The stakes for getting this right couldn’t be higher when our rights to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and safety all hang in the balance. It is essential that defendants who pose little-to-no risk to public safety aren’t jailed on the taxpayer’s dime for no reason other than their inability to pay a costly cash bail. This not only racks up the taxpayer costs, but directly inhibits those defendants’ abilities to keep their jobs and care for their families, driving them further and further away from a crime-free future. 

Disturbingly enough, while these no-risk defendants are jailed because of their lack of access to cash, wealthy – and dangerous – defendants can often buy their way out of detention in systems that base pretrial detention decisions on wealth alone.  That’s dangerous and wrong.

Here’s where conservatives need to step in and ensure that public safety is at the forefront of our nation’s pretrial system.

First, conservatives must advocate for changes to pretrial detention so that an individual’s risk to public safety is the first and most pressing issue considered no matter what the charge is. Groups have been highlighting cases where failures of the cash bail status quo have deadly consequences – such as Darrell Brooks’ murderous rampage through a Christmas parade -- and call for something better.

Second, conservatives must reject the idea that one’s freedom be tied to the size of their bank account. There is something so un-American with the idea that accused criminals can buy their way out of prison. It’s the hallmark of the most corrupt societies in the entire world. Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity has called the "wealth-based distinction…unfair and unjust," and asserted that, "We should base pre-trial detention policies on risk, not ability to pay, and that is exactly what bail reform helps achieve."

What does this look like in practice?

In New Jersey, legislation enacted a risk-based system that included a public safety assessment conducted by court staff that took into account a number of factors, including prior convictions and current charges. Most important though, the law empowers judges to take decisive action, serving as eyes and ears on the data-driven system.

But not all bail reform is created equally, and it’s no secret that New York fell woefully short in their pretrial legislation. By disallowing judges’ discretion to consider whether an individual is a public safety threat, lawmakers broke the cardinal rule of criminal justice reform: they failed to make public safety paramount.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER

It was no wonder they took so much heat from the public when crime increased regardless of whether evidence and data since the bill’s enactment ties these changes to increased crime.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

While we have more to do to get to the bottom of the correlation between bad bail reform and crime outcomes; in the meantime, we proudly remain the party of law and order and individual freedom.

Pretrial detention reform requires a policy that upholds both. We’ve seen it done successfully before and there are worthy causes as to why conservatives need to lead on it now and in the future: it’s a matter of public safety.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DOUG COLLINS