ALBANY, NY – FWD.us New York State Director for Criminal Justice Reform Ashley Gantt issued the following statement today in response to Mayor Adams and Congressman Zeldin comments on bail reform:

“Yet again, New York leaders like Mayor Adams and Congressman Zeldin continue to scapegoat bail reform to avoid the urgent need for evidence-based investments that actually work to keep communities safe. The spread of this misinformation undermines the real progress of recent criminal justice reforms that have helped to address the incarceration crisis and criminalization of poor people in New York.

“Data from New York City and New York State has already proven that the 2019 bail reforms are wildly successful in reducing unnecessary and harmful pretrial jailing without compromising safety.

“Tired political tricks like these have already resulted in two rounds of indefensible rollbacks to the 2019 bail reforms. It is a fact that there is no link between bail reform and violence in New York. Elected leaders must stop fear-mongering to discredit the overwhelmingly successful work of bail reform in safely reducing the jail population and invest in proven strategies that will advance public safety.”