As part of the New York State Fiscal Year (SFY) Budget for 2019–2020, passed on April 1, 2019,[1][2] cash bail was eliminated for most misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges,[3] including stalking, assault without serious injury, burglary, many drug offenses, and some categories of arson and robbery.
[7] New York state judges reportedly started releasing criminal suspects in November 2019 due to the impending law implementation.
[8] In the first full year after implementation of the law, there were approximately 100,000 cases where adults were released instead of being held in custody or assigned bail.
In January 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation allowing judges to impose cash bail for more crimes and under more conditions (such as the defendant being on parole).
[14] A July 2020 analysis by the New York Post of NYPD data found that out of 11,000 people released from Rikers Island under the reform, only 31 (0.28%) were later suspected of a gun crime and only 1 person was charged.