The suspects were later reportedly freed without bail. Credit: NYPD
Nothing is more perilous to the safety of a community than a prosecutor who won’t enforce the law. Yet, in New York, a close second-place goes to a "justice" system in which elected Democrats consciously undermine the community’s capacity to detain dangerous criminals.
If you’re wondering how it could be that a gang of illegal aliens is able to maul two New York City cops near Times Square in broad daylight and on video, consider the toxic combination of those two factors.
It is commonly although mistakenly believed that there is a right to bail – i.e., that a person who has been arrested is supposed to be released from custody pending trial. It is understandable that many of us are under this misimpression. After all, under constitutional due process principles, an accused is presumed innocent; and the Eighth Amendment speaks of setting bail.
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But let’s look more carefully. What the amendment says is that "Excessive bail shall not be required." That does not mean bail must be set in every case. It means that in cases in which bail is set – i.e., in cases in which pretrial release is appropriate – the bail terms must not be set so high that a defendant could not possibly meet them.
If a person of sparse means is accused of a petty theft, it would be ridiculous to set bail at, say, $1 million; the accused doesn’t have those kinds of resources, or know people who have them and would be willing to post........