According to an investigation by DailyMail.com, since Alvin Bragg became the Manhattan district attorney, suspected felons have walked free in half of cases. Bragg’s office has not requested that felony suspects be held on bail in more than double the proportion of cases since 2018. This has resulted in fears that New York’s worst criminals are still roaming the streets, with campaigners accusing officials of “a depraved indifference to human life.” Critics have argued that Bragg’s approach has led to a rising recidivism rate, but this is fiercely disputed. The figures have caused concern about New York’s lax bail rules, which have been repeatedly criticized for being soft on crime. The state’s bail laws changed in 2019, meaning judges cannot assess a defendant’s “dangerousness” when setting bail. Instead, judges must choose the “least restrictive” means to ensure a defendant returns to court, making bail a last resort. The decline in bail requests from Bragg’s office could be a reflection of these reforms, but some experts have suggested that Bragg’s political leanings may also be behind the decline. Bragg has also come under fire from victims of violent crime in Manhattan for his lenient stance on justice. Jennifer Harrison, founder of Victims’ Rights NY, has accused Bragg of initiating the leniency towards “some of these monsters.” Harrison, who has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of crime victims since her boyfriend and his best friend were murdered in 2005, said the figures were “extremely disheartening from a personal standpoint” and that “there is a depraved indifference to human life that is sweeping across the country.” Bragg issued a memo on his first day in office directing staff not to prosecute armed robberies as felonies if the firearm did not “create a genuine risk of physical harm.” Since then, he has downgraded 55 percent of felony cases to misdemeanors in 2023 to date, up from 40 percent in 2018, according to his own data. Harrison said this has also contributed to the rise in suspects being released without bail, as it has reduced the number of bail-eligible cases. The DA’s office is also turning away more cases since Bragg was elected to office at the start of 2022, declining to prosecute one in seven so far this year, down from around one in 13 in 2021. Bragg has secured convictions in just 51 percent of cases in which felony charges have been brought this year, down from 71 percent in 2018. His first full year in office saw a 22 percent increase in major crime in New York City, despite a significant drop in shootings and murders. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed doing away with the “least restrictive” standard for some serious charges, allowing judges to set a higher bail based on whether they feel a defendant poses a threat. The Democrat has previously blasted Bragg for “going soft” after he released without bail a man who terrorized McDonald’s patrons with an ax. She has also personally intervened in a case to ensure a registered sex offender who sucker-punched a man into a coma would remain in jail despite the Bronx DA’s office initially charging him with only a misdemeanor. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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