Rise News

Rise's Statement on Bail Reform - (1/28/2020)

Criminal justice reform was sorely needed in New York State and bail reform was an attempt to address an unjust system that disadvantaged people who are low income and of color.  However, we believe that this new bail reform law goes too far to the extreme and we have serious concerns for the safety of domestic violence victims.  Bail reform eliminates monetary bail and pretrial detention for nearly all misdemeanor and nonviolent felonies.  This eliminates the “cooling off” period for perpetrators, shortening the critical time that our advocates have to safety plan with victims.  Our other concern is with the new discovery law, which requires all evidence to be turned over to the defense within 15 days of arraignment.  We believe that this release of testimony will scare witnesses and victims and jeopardize their safety. 

We have heard from the Broome County District Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement that these new laws have forced them to add personnel and drastically increased their workload.  We collaborate heavily with these offices and will continue to help ease their burden by finding resources to keep victims safe.  We also feel that this new law will tax our staff, who are already struggling as we try to meet greater demand for domestic violence services with stagnant funding. 

We fear that bail reform will further silence domestic violence victims out of fear.  That is unacceptable in 2020.  We urge lawmakers to consider revisions to the law which add greater protections for victims.


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What is domestic violence?

Domestic Violence is a pattern of coercive behavior. This pattern can include abuse of various sorts of one family member by another including:

Perpetrators of domestic violence have a goal to establish and maintain power and control over their partners and/or other family members.

This violence affects people in every racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic group and includes people of all ages who have lived together or who have had an intimate relationship.

Domestic violence often escalates in severity and frequency over time and can have serious health and psychological ramifications.

How can you learn more?

Representatives from Rise are available to speak to community organizations about domestic violence and our services.

For more information, call 6O7.748.7453.

For additional information: www.opdv.ny.gov/whatisdv