WASHINGTON, DC – FWD.us President Todd Schulte issued the following statement today as upon the New York State Assembly’s passage of A10137A, the Walker Reform Bill:

“We applaud the New York State Assembly and Assemblywoman Latrice Walker for passing the Walker Reform Bill (A10137A) which reforms New York bail practices and will safely and effectively drive down New York’s jail populations.

“Assembly Bill A10137A eliminates money bail for nearly all misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies while strictly limiting the use of preventive detention, or pretrial incarceration without the possibility of release. These changes will go a long way towards ending wealth based detention in New York while allowing for safe and significant reductions to the state’s jail populations.

“If signed into law, this legislation would would set a national model for bail reform as the most ambitious bail reform in the country. With only five days left in the legislative session, we strongly urge the New York Senate to seize this opportunity to fix New York’s broken pretrial system and lead the country in criminal justice reform. The 16,000 New Yorkers awaiting trial in jail cannot afford to wait another year.”