‘Bail reform’ without judicial discretion is an invitation to injustice and anarchy.
Perhaps there is no better example of our broken criminal justice system than what took place in Louisville, Kentucky earlier this month.
On Monday, Feb. 14 there was an assassination attempt on a Jewish man running for mayor. Craig Greenberg, a Democratic candidate, was fired at, the bullet grazing his clothing. Fortunately Greenberg suffered no physical wound, although, as became clear in the following days, he certainly suffered psychological damage.
By the next day, Tuesday, Feb. 15, Louisville police had made an arrest: Quintez Brown, 21. To identify him as a Black Lives Matter activist is important to understand what happened the following day, Wednesday, Feb. 16. He posted $100,000 bail, paid for, according to local media, by the Louisville Community Bail Fund, an arm of the local Black Lives Matter chapter.
Attempted murder on Monday.
Walking free on Wednesday.
This is both morally outrageous and incredibly dangerous.
Morally outrageous because it demeans the value of human life. It sends the message that trying to snuff out a life is no big deal. Morally outrageous because it says that as long as money can be gathered, a person attempting murder can walk free.
We wonder how many individuals are currently incarcerated in Louisville prisons for low level crimes simply because they don’t have the means to post bail. Yet Mr. Brown, who attempted to murder an innocent civilian, but who has friends in high places, doesn’t even spend two days in jail.
Incredibly dangerous because a man who used a firearm to try to murder an innocent civilian is walking the streets. Who else in Louisville is in his crosshairs?
While a specific motive has yet to be determined, one cannot help but ask oneself — as did Louisville police chief Erika Shields — whether Greenberg was targeted because he was Jewish. Rabbi Shlomo Livtin of Lexington, Ky. found social media posts of Brown’s that implied a level of anti-Semitism. Brown promulgated the myth popular among the Nation of Islam that a large number of Southern slave-holding plantation owners were Jewish.
How are Louisville Jews expected to feel safe when a person who targeted one of their own is out and about?
According to local media reports, including interviews with associates of Brown’s as well as his lawyer, the 21-year-old suffers from mental illness. If so, double down on the question:
Why is he walking free?
Most people suffering with mental illness are not violent, and those who are often pose the greatest danger to themselves. However, in this case, a mentally ill person —if that’s what Brown is — poses a danger to others. The evidence is incontrovertible. Brown must be detained in a facility for assessment and treatment — not walking free on bail. If mental illness led him to attempted murder once, then why not again?
But no. We have here bail within 48 hours. And why?
The movement sweeping the nation, including here in Colorado, called “bail reform.” It is supposed to focuson removing cash bail for “low level” crimes, as a way of alleviating unequal treatment of the poor or people of color. (It’s rather rich that the group that bailed out Brown opposes cash bail!)
Choose your “low level” crime. Are domestic violence, felons possessing weapons and auto theft “low level” crimes? “Bail reform” has become an excuse for abetting criminals.
We have here an inversion. Automatic, severe penalties for drug possession are being replaced with automatic non-penalties — no judicial discretion allowed.
Judges should not have their hands tied by statute when assessing the “level” of crime and the potential danger posed by the criminal. Is cash bail or a personal recognizance bond appropriate? Are they dangerous? Judges should have discretion to decide. The maximum of 110 years recently meted out to the I-70 truck driver, a killer of four people, is being replaced with minimums that release attempted killers from jail.
Also on the “bail reform” agenda: better funding for mental health services. We wholeheartedly support this — but better mental health services does nothing to stop crime now. Neither does investing in youth programs, another policy we support.
Long-term solutions have absolutely nothing to do with short-term corruption of the bail process. Municipalities with rising crime — which is most of the municipalities in the US today — need to stop crime now, not next year. Do not make it easier for violent criminals to walk the streets, a la Louisville, Ky.
Easier said than done, perhaps, but often enough it’s obvious. If a known violent criminal — such as a perpetrator of domestic violence and an illegal possessor of firearms — is arrested and charged, suspend the bail reform! People who pose a danger to the public deserve no breaks.
As Craig Greenberg said two days after the attempt on his life:
“Our criminal justice system is clearly broken. It is nearly impossible to believe that someone can attempt murder on Monday and walk out of jail on Wednesday.” Are Colorado leaders paying attention?
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