Abstract

In 2020, the New York legislature passed the bail reform law. The law included amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law (L 2019, ch 59, Part JJJ), eliminating cash bail and pretrial detention for non-violent crimes, and giving more guidance to judges setting bail (Rodriguez, 2022). Since the enactment of bail reform, there has been considerable debate concerning its impact on crime and violence. In spite of the ongoing debate about bail reform, few evaluations to date have ascertained bail reform’s impact on violence. The Monroe County Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) Executive Committee has commissioned the RIT Center for Public Safety Initiatives (CPSI) to examine the impact of bail reform on homicide. The analysis performed in this report examined pre- and post-bail reform differences in homicide offender bail amount, custody status, crimes committed while out on bail for homicide, and homicides committed while out on bail for a previous crime. The following research questions were examined:

  1. Did bail reform increase the likelihood that a homicide arrestee will commit a crime while on bail?
  2. Did bail reform increase the likelihood that individuals released on bail for a previous crime will commit a homicide?
  3. Were homicide arrestees more likely to be released on bail after the passage of bail reform?
  4. Did bail amounts set for homicide arrestees decrease after bail reform was passed?

Publication Date

12-10-2022

Document Type

Master's Project

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Criminal Justice (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

Department of Criminal Justice (CLA)

Advisor

Irshad Altheimer

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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