Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her State of the State address this afternoon. The speech included troubling proposals, including rollbacks to critical pre-trial reforms and expansion of involuntary commitment initiatives for people facing mental health crises.

“We are disappointed that Governor Kathy Hochul, in her State of the State address, called for rollbacks to New York’s widely successful and transformational discovery statute,” reads a statement from Legal Aid. “Since its enactment in 2020, this reform brought New York in line with evidence-sharing practices in most states and corrected a deeply flawed system that, for decades, contributed to wrongful convictions, mass incarceration, and case delays.”

“We are also strongly opposed by Governor Hochul’s plan to expand involuntary commitment initiatives for people facing mental health crises,” the statement continues. “We should increase access to outpatient services and invest in models like Assertive Community Treatment teams, which meet people where they are and provide direct support. We urge the Governor to prioritize investments in these services and support solutions like Daniel’s Law and the Treatment Not Jail Act, both of which offer common-sense approaches that prioritize treatment and care over incarceration and isolation.”