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

“The Mayor’s comments ignore the fact that there is no link between bail reform and violence in New York. The obscure recidivism rates discussed by Mayor Adams have not been verified and inconsistent with factual city and state-level government data analyses that have shown multiple times that bail reform is wildly successful. We know that to advance public safety we need to use evidence-based strategies like investing resources in our communities, not push the threat of incarceration.

“Fear-mongering tactics that demonize poor and systemically marginalized people do nothing to keep our communities safe. We should not be forcing more people to stay behind bars pretrial because they simply cannot afford to buy their freedom.

“Mayor Adams’ harmful and misinformed rhetoric is a slap in the face to the people and families who have lost their lives at Rikers Island, such as Kalief Browder, and more broadly, a misleading political tactic to roll back bail reform. Elected leaders should be looking to the now robust library of verified data analyses to protect New Yorkers and push forward public safety solutions.”