CONTACT: Mariah McGough, mariah@vocal-ny.org 

REMINDER FOR ERIC ADAMS: MOST BAIL-ELIGIBLE CASES END IN DISMISSAL, MISDEMEANOR, OR NON-CRIMINAL CHARGES

NEW YORK — In response to NYC Mayor Eric Adams continued efforts to roll back bail reforms so that more people will be held in jail, VOCAL-NY released the following statement: 

“People, the Mayor included, seem to forget that the most common conclusion of bail-eligible cases is dismissal or misdemeanor and non-criminal dispositions – not prison time. People are having their lives thrown into turmoil by the bail process, only to have their cases dismissed or resolved with a misdemeanor or a non-criminal disposition. What does the Mayor have to say to them? How will he make up that lost time and opportunity for New Yorkers?” said Nick Encalada-Malinowski, Civil Rights Campaign Director at VOCAL-NY.

BACKGROUND:

Every year since 2017 fewer than 10% of all felony cases end in a sentence of prison time, with just 3% of cases in 2021 ending that way. In 2021 the vast majority of felony cases ended in either dismissal (56%) or misdemeanor or non-criminal disposition (25%).

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