Three Democrats in Congress want a briefing from New York City’s district attorneys about the use of bail in the city’s court system, raising concerns about prosecutors seeking “excessive” cash bail.
In letters to all five of the DAs, the lawmakers said they have “grave concerns that excessive bail amounts are leading to unnecessary pretrial detention and contributing to a humanitarian crisis New York City’s jail system, particularly on Rikers Island.” So far this year, 14 people have died in the custody of the city’s Department of Correction.
The letters are signed by House Oversight Committee Chairwoman and Manhattan Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Bronx Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland. Both Ocasio-Cortez and Raskin are also members of the oversight panel.
The lawmakers pose a series of questions to the DAs, including asking what steps they took to reduce the jail population in the past year, what guidelines they use to inform bail recommendations, and how many people that they are prosecuting have been in pretrial detention for more than 6 months or a year.
They gave the DAs a deadline of Dec. 10 to provide a briefing.
In September, the same trio of lawmakers sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, requesting a briefing on the conditions at Rikers. In October, Maloney said she has not ruled the possibility of a congressional hearing on the conditions at the troubled jail complex.