President of the New York State Bail Bondsman Association, Michelle Esquenazi Applauds California Di

New York, NY: Today Michelle Esquenazi, President of the New York State Bail Bondsman Association applauded Kings County, California District Attorney, Keith Fagundes for pointing out that the state’s bail system works and doesn’t need to be reformed.

In an article published on March 11, 2017 by The Sentinel, Kings County District Attorney Fagundes said that the legislation proposed by Sen. Bob Hertzberg and Assemblyman Rob Bonta known as the “California Money Bail Reform Act of 2017” is redundant because the bill focuses on people they already release.

Said Esquenazi, “Legislators around the country are caving in to pressure from non-profit organizations focused on undermining the United States criminal justice system. Groups like Civil Rights Corp want defendants charged with misdemeanor crimes to automatically be set free without accountability. What they fail to point out is that assault, sexual harassment and endangering the welfare of a child are considered misdemeanors in most states. Allowing suspects of those crimes to automatically be set free without supervision will negatively impact victims of domestic violence and child abuse who usually live with their attackers.”

According to The Sentinel, Fagundes pointed out that many misdemeanor offenders are already cited and released with a notice to appear in court. In other cases, judges may release suspects on their “own recognizance,” which is a written promise to appear for all court hearings. He noted that Kings County judges will typically reduce bail or release defendants on their own recognizance if remaining in jail would cause a financial hardship.

Esquenazi continued, “The truth is that the nation’s bail system, which has been in place for two hundred years, has a mechanism in place to ensure that a defendant’s right to the presumption of innocence is preserved – that mechanism is the Judge or hearing officer who considers whether the defendant poses a danger to him/herself or others, whether that defendant is likely to return to court and the defendants criminal history before setting bail. Algorithms and inexperienced pre-trial officers aren’t equipped to make those types of assessments as has been evidenced in New Jersey where burglars, child molesters and gun runners are taking advantage of the dysfunction of the state’s bail reform program by continuing to commit crimes because they know they will be released without bail.”

Esquenazi points out that New Jersey law enforcement officials are frustrated that they don’t have the resources to chase defendants who skip their court hearing and continue to commit crimes. “In February, Egg Harbor Police Chief Richard Buzby and his officers were compelled to go door to door to warn the community that bail reform had set a suspected child molester free. Couple that with the fact that police are now being forced to chase suspects who are no shows for court – a job that once was done by private bail bondsmen - and bail reform becomes an unfunded mandate.”