Report

New York, New York: Highlights of the 2019 Bail Reform Law

In April 2019, New York passed legislation on bail reform to update a set of state pretrial laws that had remained largely untouched since 1971. Compared to

California’s Senate Bill 10, passed in August 2018, or New Jersey’s Bail Reform and Speedy Trial Act, enacted in January 2017, New York’s new bail law received

relatively little media coverage or national press. To many interested in bail and pretrial justice, New York’s reform seemed un-newsworthy as it didn’t go as far as

originally promised to eliminate money bail entirely.