Some Democratic governors and state lawmakers are resorting to tough-on-crime legislation, often against the will of the party’s progressive camp, as elections draw closer and violent crime emerges as a top issue on voters’ minds.
Most want to take more violent offenders off the streets, either by rolling back bail reforms or through tougher sentencing guidelines.
In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, signed an omnibus anti-crime bill into law in early March.
In New Jersey, a measure sponsored by Democrats to roll back bail reform was approved by the state Assembly on March 24.
New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, just proposed adding changes to the state’s bail reform law in her upcoming budget proposal, resulting in a political pushback from Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
“We will put a wedge in the revolving door of violent crime in New Mexico. The safety of our communities cannot be up for debate,” Grisham said in her State of the State address in January.
Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico, recorded its deadliest year on record in 2021, with 171 homicides.
Grisham, a first-term governor, is up for reelection in the fall. The two Democratic House members who sponsored the crime bill, Meredith Dixon and Pamelya Herndon, are seeking their second terms.
Eventually, the bail provision was dropped because of opposition by other Democrats, but the provisions to enhance sentencing for crimes committed with firearms stayed. As a result, when a firearm is used, brandished, or discharged during certain felonies, the basic sentence would be increased by five years (except for youth offenders.)
In addition to getting tougher on gun-related crimes, the omnibus bill also allots money and resources to social services for crime prevention and rehabilitation.
As for law enforcement, the bill has set aside $55 million to recruit and retain officers in the state. It also makes fleeing police a fourth-degree felony.
The bill seeks to make it easier for prosecutors to secure the pre-trial detention of violent crime defendants, such as those who are charged with certain crimes involving firearms.
“Nothing makes me feel better than to see Republicans and Democrats, legislators and mayors standing together with the sole purpose and the purpose is: Keep bad guys with guns off the street,” Benjie Wimberly, a Democratic lawmaker sponsoring the bill, said at a February press conference.
The number of shooting victims in New Jersey jumped 41 percent in 2020 from 2019, and by 8 percent again in 2021, according to data provided by the state to Paterson Press.
The bill sailed through the committee with a single “no” vote and was approved by the Assembly in a 50–27 vote on March 24. It also drew broad criticism from civil rights groups and public defenders, who argue it will increase the jail population and disproportionately hurt minority defendants.
In January 2017, the Criminal Justice Reform Act took effect in New Jersey, which essentially eliminated cash bail, making the state one of the first in the nation to systematically overhaul its bail system.
For serious crimes such as murders, there’s a presumption to detain before trial. But that presumption is rebuttable, which means if evidence favors a defendant, judges can still order his or her release.
In neighboring New York, a more limited bail reform effort passed in 2019, eliminating cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.
As for violent crime, judges are encouraged to use a variety of tools to guarantee the defendant’s return, including setting bail, electronic monitoring, surrendering passports, or treatment programs. When judges do set bail, they must take into consideration the defendant’s ability to pay.
Hochul seeks to fix bail requirements in three major ways: empowering officers to arrest offenders who commit a second or third offense on pretrial release, allowing judges to set bail in all felony cases involving illegal guns, and allowing judges to set more restrictive pretrial conditions for crimes involving guns.
Her stance was met with harsh resistance from progressive Democrats, led by Stewart-Cousins.
Hochul became governor after Andrew Cuomo resigned on Aug. 24, 2021. She is running this year for a full four-year term.
Last fall, Republicans gained seats across New York, and moderate Democrat Eric Adams was elected as mayor of New York City. Public safety was a hot issue in those races.
Adams, a former New York Police Department captain, opposed bail reform. His public safety platform was highlighted when President Joe Biden visited him in February to discuss ways to combat gun-related crime.
