900 Inmates May Regain Freedom In New York Before Xmas

LAGOS NOVEMBER 4^TH (NEWSRANGERS)-No fewer than  900 city jailbirds could be celebrating Christmas early courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a plan to quietly free them before the state’s bail-reform law goes into effect next year, The Post has learned.

And if that weren’t enough of a gift, Mayor Bill de Blasio is promising to follow up with even more presents for the lucky accused criminals — by giving them free baseball tickets, movie passes and gift cards to encourage them to return to court, sources familiar with the program said.

“You’re literally rewarding them for committing a crime,’’ said a disgusted senior staffer in Manhattan Criminal Court.

The proposed early jail release is tied to a law that Cuomo signed in the spring to eliminate bail for defendants charged with an array of misdemeanor and felony crimes.

The more than 400 offenses include such heinous acts as criminally negligent homicide, aggravated assault on a child under 11 and selling drugs on or near school grounds, according to a memo being circulated by prosecutors across the state and obtained by The Post.

The law goes into effect Jan. 1 but it will be retroactive — meaning inmates who are already locked up on such cases can apply to have their bail lifted and to be freed.

In the Big Apple, court officials estimate that 880 prisoners — about 16 percent of all pretrial detainees housed by the Department of Correction — will be eligible for the get-out-of-jail-free cards.

To avoid a deluge of applications in the new year, the state Office of Court Administration has held a series of conferences where officials outlined four ways for judges to deal with the new law, according to a source familiar with the situation.

One proposal would allow judges to issue pre-emptive orders that “comply with the new statute before its effective date,” the source said — and the OCA is already prepping for the move.

OCA spokesman Lucian Chalfen said court and city officials had “begun the unprecedented process of discharge planning and developing the complex logistical process of releasing those defendants.”

“To that end, a plan is being developed to stagger the release of defendants starting in mid-December,” Chalfen said.

“If a judge, however, feels that it was necessary to make certain [release] orders effective Jan. 1, they certainly retain the discretion to do so,” he said.

The other options discussed at the conferences include taking a wait-and-see approach, scheduling Jan. 2 hearings for everyone who applies — or issuing release orders that take effect on Jan. 1 or 2, the source said.

The Legal Aid Society, which provides government-funded representation for indigent criminal defendants, has instructed its lawyers to file motions on behalf of their eligible clients immediately and to seek their release as soon as possible.

Most judges “have been reluctant to go along” so far, but Legal Aid hopes that will change “with some guidance from OCA,” said Marie Ndiaye, supervising lawyer of its Decarceration Project.

“It is completely arbitrary and cruel to hold people pre-trial now who will have to be released come Jan. 1,” Ndiaye said.

“Early implementation will help ensure that the Office of Court Administration and the Department of Correction are not overwhelmed, and it will also ensure that those New Yorkers being released have a discharge plan and are connected to services that they need.”

State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R-Geneva) was infuriated to learn about the early-release plan.

“Any attempt to accelerate this process makes a bad situation even worse, threatens public safety and is a disservice to law-abiding citizens,” he said.

“With every law that New York Democrats roll back, our streets become less safe. Their platform that caters to convicts and protects hardened criminals puts the rest of us in danger.”

Meanwhile, once the suspects are back on the street, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, working with the not-for-profit Criminal Justice Agency, will be offering tickets and gift cards to ensure that inmates who get sprung don’t skip their court dates, sources said.

A law-enforcement source noted that the tickets would be for the Mets — whose games are in considerably less demand than the Yankees.

It’s unclear how much taxpayer money will be spent on the rewards, which echo an earlier de Blasio program that offered low-level criminal defendants $15 Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards to fill out questionnaires about their experiences in court.

That crook-coddling initiative cost taxpayers $800,000, The Post reported in 2017.

But NYPD cops were outraged over the goodies being offered to alleged baddies.

“It is bad enough that [suspects] have to be reminded [to show up to court], but to be rewarded is ludicrous,’’ a Queens cop griped.

A Brooklyn officer said of the baseball games, “What do the victims get — to watch it on TV?’’

Another Brooklyn cop added, “What does that say about the Mets? Are Yankees tickets reserved for murderers? I am sure it will only be a matter of time before they get out on no bail,’’ too.

A rep for the mayor’s office said in an e-mail to The Post on Sunday, that the city has a “nationally recognized, award-winning Supervised Release program’’ which “has produced consistently high rates of return to court, which we expect will continue after the State law goes into effect.”

A spokesperson for Cuomo said: “Fearmongering aside, we understand there are concerns about implementing these landmark reforms and we believe it must be done appropriately and effectively.”

New York Times

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