Bail legal guidelines may see tweaks in NY, once more. Has bail reform been working?

• The New York Constitution sets a budget deadline of Apr. 1.
• The bail reforms have long rankled Democrats, who have argued for years about how much to tinker with the reforms that were originally passed in 2019.
• Gov. Kathy Hochul is at odds with her legislative counterparts over her desire to eliminate a key element of the current bail laws.

With days to go before the state budget is due, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Democratic-supermajority legislature were locked in debate over further changes to the bail laws, despite overwhelming public support for giving judges more discretion on bail.

The New York state Constitution gives the governor’s office the upper hand in budget negotiations, which is the current venue for Hochul’s insistence on rolling back recent bail reforms. But the legislature has so far shown little appetite for changing bail laws that it already amended on several prior occasions.