The Impact of the New York State Bail Reform Act on Pretrial Recidivism

Abstract

This paper investigates how the New York State Bail Reform Act and its amendments have impacted pretrial recidivism among misdemeanor and nonviolent felonies in New York City. The data used throughout this research is provided by the New York City Criminal Justice Agency’s Pretrial Release Dashboard. The New York City Criminal Justice Agency’s Pretrial Release Dashboard provides data on new offenses committed while on release and types of release. Examining the impact of bail reform on pretrial release is important to understanding pretrial recidivism and the efficacy of different reform policies. The data is examined over two different time frames: before and after the amendments to the New York State Bail Reform Act. In this work, I evaluate and compare the overall impact that the New York State Bail Reform Act has had on pretrial release and, in turn, how pretrial release has affected pretrial recidivism.