Advocacy and Legal Services Groups Urge the House to Not Make Revisions to the Bail Statute at this Time
November 7, 2017
Dear Representative:
As advocacy and legal services organizations with a long-standing commitment to criminal justice reform, we appreciate the House Ways & Means Committee’s simple and sensible refinements to our bail statute. Yet, because of the recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision in Brangan v. Commonwealth, 477 Mass. 691 (2017) in August 2017, we ask that you not make revisions to our bail statute at this time.
Some of our organizations have advocated for bail reform in the past. We all believe that people should not be detained simply because they are unable to pay excessively high bail. However, we have serious concerns about broad-ranging provisions in the Senate criminal justice bill that would fundamentally re-write our bail statute. This is a complicated system and proposed changes carry the potential for grave unintended consequences. We do not believe that it is warranted or wise to make revisions to the bail statute in this legislation and suggest that you take time to give this issue the careful consideration and deliberative treatment that it requires.
The SJC’s positive, game-changing decision about bail in August 2017 added protections to ensure that the bail statute, G.L. c. 276, § 58, would be applied in a way that does not discriminate against poor people. The Court in Brangan described clear procedural standards that must be followed before unattainable bail can be set. Lawyers who are representing clients are reporting that the decision is having an impact. The courts should be given an opportunity to apply the decision and develop practices that comply with its requirements before any changes are made to the existing statute.
Unfortunately, the Senate’s proposed changes to the statute could entangle many more people in the criminal legal system – before trial. The Senate bill would significantly expand the courts’ ability to impose pretrial conditions on defendants, and for new reasons, under the auspices of probation. Even before trial, thousands of people across the Commonwealth – people who have not been judged to have done anything wrong – would be subject to significant conditions on their activities that could interfere with their ability to go about the ordinary business of their lives, including work, school, and caring for family. Under the existing statute, bail or conditions can only be imposed to ensure that the defendant returns to court. The legislature should not tamper with that longstanding tradition.
In addition, an enormous expansion of pretrial probation would mean major new costs for the taxpayers of the Commonwealth. It has been estimated that the Senate bill’s proposed changes would add at least an hour of legal advocacy to each case. This increase in the number of hours per case would require millions of dollars of additional state funding for indigent defense, prosecution, and the administration of the judiciary.
For all of the foregoing reasons, we strongly recommend that the House not “follow the Senate’s lead” in this area. We appreciate the House’s hard work on criminal justice reform. We urge you not to tinker with the bail statute and instead to focus your energy where it is most needed, on matters ranging from sentencing reform and diversion to improving prison conditions and reducing collateral consequences.
Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts
American Friends Service Committee
Citizens for Juvenile Justice
Coalition for Effective Public Safety
Coalition for Social Justice
Committee for Public Counsel Services
Criminal Justice Policy Coalition
Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (E.P.O.C.A.)
Indivisible Somerville
Greater Boston Legal Services CORI & Re-entry Project
JP Progressives
Massachusetts Bail Fund
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Massachusetts Organization for Addition Recovery
National Association of Social Workers – Massachusetts Chapter
Operation Change
Prisoners’ Legal Services
Progressive Massachusetts
Roca
SEIU 888
#StuckOnReplay
Dear Representative:
As advocacy and legal services organizations with a long-standing commitment to criminal justice reform, we appreciate the House Ways & Means Committee’s simple and sensible refinements to our bail statute. Yet, because of the recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision in Brangan v. Commonwealth, 477 Mass. 691 (2017) in August 2017, we ask that you not make revisions to our bail statute at this time.
Some of our organizations have advocated for bail reform in the past. We all believe that people should not be detained simply because they are unable to pay excessively high bail. However, we have serious concerns about broad-ranging provisions in the Senate criminal justice bill that would fundamentally re-write our bail statute. This is a complicated system and proposed changes carry the potential for grave unintended consequences. We do not believe that it is warranted or wise to make revisions to the bail statute in this legislation and suggest that you take time to give this issue the careful consideration and deliberative treatment that it requires.
The SJC’s positive, game-changing decision about bail in August 2017 added protections to ensure that the bail statute, G.L. c. 276, § 58, would be applied in a way that does not discriminate against poor people. The Court in Brangan described clear procedural standards that must be followed before unattainable bail can be set. Lawyers who are representing clients are reporting that the decision is having an impact. The courts should be given an opportunity to apply the decision and develop practices that comply with its requirements before any changes are made to the existing statute.
Unfortunately, the Senate’s proposed changes to the statute could entangle many more people in the criminal legal system – before trial. The Senate bill would significantly expand the courts’ ability to impose pretrial conditions on defendants, and for new reasons, under the auspices of probation. Even before trial, thousands of people across the Commonwealth – people who have not been judged to have done anything wrong – would be subject to significant conditions on their activities that could interfere with their ability to go about the ordinary business of their lives, including work, school, and caring for family. Under the existing statute, bail or conditions can only be imposed to ensure that the defendant returns to court. The legislature should not tamper with that longstanding tradition.
In addition, an enormous expansion of pretrial probation would mean major new costs for the taxpayers of the Commonwealth. It has been estimated that the Senate bill’s proposed changes would add at least an hour of legal advocacy to each case. This increase in the number of hours per case would require millions of dollars of additional state funding for indigent defense, prosecution, and the administration of the judiciary.
For all of the foregoing reasons, we strongly recommend that the House not “follow the Senate’s lead” in this area. We appreciate the House’s hard work on criminal justice reform. We urge you not to tinker with the bail statute and instead to focus your energy where it is most needed, on matters ranging from sentencing reform and diversion to improving prison conditions and reducing collateral consequences.
Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts
American Friends Service Committee
Citizens for Juvenile Justice
Coalition for Effective Public Safety
Coalition for Social Justice
Committee for Public Counsel Services
Criminal Justice Policy Coalition
Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (E.P.O.C.A.)
Indivisible Somerville
Greater Boston Legal Services CORI & Re-entry Project
JP Progressives
Massachusetts Bail Fund
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Massachusetts Organization for Addition Recovery
National Association of Social Workers – Massachusetts Chapter
Operation Change
Prisoners’ Legal Services
Progressive Massachusetts
Roca
SEIU 888
#StuckOnReplay