The Legal Aid Society litigated a writ of habeas corpus at the New York Court of Appeals to clarify how courts should interpret the newly amended bail statute, New York Penal Law § 530.60. The case centered on an individual detained pre-trial and without bail based on allegations that he committed a crime while at liberty on other charges. The Court of Appeals ruled that a prosecutor cannot seek to change an individual’s securing order – the court order which controls if a defendant is released or faces restrictions on their liberty, including detention, while they face charges - solely because they have been rearrested. Instead, it held that the statute requires that the prosecution articulate, on an individualized basis, how an individual’s new arrest has changed the assessment of the kind of control or restriction necessary to ensure an individual’s return to court. The case importantly created a presumption that the prosecution is seeking to modify the securing order on the impermissible basis of dangerousness if they fail to meaningfully articulate why the re-arrest is relevant to flight risk.

This litigation was brought by attorneys in the Decarceration Project.