Marie Ndiaye, Supervising Attorney with The Legal Aid Society’s Decarceration Project recently joined NY1’s Inside City Hall to set the record straight on bail reform in New York.

Mayor Adams has continued to incorrectly claim that 2019 bail reforms have led to an increase in violent crime in the City, Ndiaye explained that the numbers tell a much different story.

“The data does not support Mayor Adams’ position on this,” she said. “The data on this is clear, 98% of people are not re-arrested on violent felony or any felony at all. To continue to make these assertions that a change in our criminal legal system is responsible for any uptick in crime is really missing an opportunity to focus on what people need: community investment, mental health services housing, access to resources.”

The Mayor has recently called for the State’s laws to be amended to include a “dangerousness” provision that would give judges greater discretion in setting bail. But advocates warn that such provisions are discriminatory and result in over-incarceration.

“This would be catastrophic,” Ndiaye said. “It would actually lead to more incarceration, especially of black people, who are deemed just by the color of their skin, to be more dangerous in this society. The ‘dangerousness’ is a relic of chattel slavery.”

Data from jurisdictions that have a “dangerousness” standard in place clearly shows that Black and Brown people are much more likely to be deemed dangerous and incarcerated.

Ndiaye praised New York for wisely rejecting the standard for decades, noting that any argument the State would be safer with one is “straight-up fearmongering. ”

Watch the full segment here.