A high-ranking New York City judge publicly blasted the state’s controversial bail reform law Thursday and called for immediate rollbacks to protect people from dangerous defendants being put back on the streets.
“It is my opinion that without significant changes, the current legislation will not only be a missed opportunity for long-overdue criminal justice reform, but also a significant threat to public safety,” Bronx Criminal Court Supervising Judge George Grasso said.
“We already are seeing serious spikes in violent crime throughout New York City in 2020.”
Grasso, a retired NYPD cop who rose the to the rank of first deputy commissioner, said judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officials and victims’ rights advocates were “minimally consulted and largely ignored” by lawmakers who passed the legislation last year as part of the fiscal 2020 budget.
“I am now in the criminal justice system for over 40 years — 30-plus NYPD and 10-plus judge — and I am very concerned,” he said during a speech at York College/CUNY in Queens.
His remarks came after at least two judges, on Long Island and in upstate Cohoes, intentionally set bail for defendants in defiance of the law that requires the release of most defendants charged with misdemeanor or “non-violent” felonies.
Grasso, who spoke at a breakfast forum sponsored by the Queens Daily Eagle newspaper, criticized the bail law as “rife with confusion and bad logic.”
As an example, he pointed to the fact that “forcible touching,” a low-level misdemeanor, is considered a “bail-eligible” offense, while selling or possessing large amounts of narcotics, one of the state’s most serious felonies, is a “non-qualifying” offense for which a defendant must be released without bail.
“The scope of removal of judicial discretion on bail matters in this ‘reform package’ is breathtaking,” he said.
“Where was the public evidence presented to justify such sweeping action?”
Grasso said judges should be allowed to consider public safety when setting bail, calling it “the elephant in the corner of the room.”
“We should stop the charade,” he said.
“Wholesale removal of judicial discretion is dangerous and unprecedented.”
Grasso also said that “the good news is, we can fix this,” and called on state lawmakers to quickly hold public hearings and present a proposal to Gov. Andrew Cuomo before the end of the legislative session in June.
“In short, we need to reform the reform this year,” he said.
Following his speech, Grasso — a York College alum — told The Post that he although he feared being “unfairly labeled” for his remarks, “I weighed that against my concern for the very severe and potentially long-lasting implications of the legislation.”
“If I didn’t express myself at this point, given the opportunity to…it would be hard to look at myself in the mirror,” he said.
During his annual budget address last month, Cuomo called bail reform an “ongoing process” and said changes could be made in the “coming weeks.”
Meanwhile, aides to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), an outspoken supporter of the bail law, have been secretly meeting with lawmakers who want to make changes, The Post exclusively reported last week.