(Chuck Muth) – Yesterday’s Daily Mail headline pretty much said it all…
“Gun violence hits 14-year high in New York City with more than 1,400 shootings – double the number in 2019 – as NYPD top cop blames bail reform for surging violence”
“Bail reform” is the colloquial term for “catch and release.” You commit a crime. You’re caught. And you get released back into the wild without having to post bail.
New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea is not a fan…
“We have made staggering numbers of gun arrests, taking guns off the streets from felons, doing it almost always without a shot being fired. But when you look three days later, four days later, those individuals are back on the street committing more gun violence.”
You’d have to be nuts to want to duplicate that in your city.
Which brings us to LA’s new DA. From the Long Beach Press-Telegram yesterday…
“The arrogance of power reached new heights, or depths, in California on Monday. Newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón disregarded the just-declared will of the voters and announced that he personally is abolishing cash bail. …
“What makes this a specimen of arrogance is that L.A. County voters just voted specifically to retain the cash bail system. Proposition 25 on the Nov. 3 ballot was a referendum on a bail reform law passed by the Legislature. … The same voters who gave Gascón the job as D.A. said by a margin of 54.7% to 45.3% that they wanted cash bail to continue.”
Reminds me of 2015, when the Nevada Legislature passed a new business income tax after voters overwhelming rejected a similar measure at the ballot box in 2014.
In response to the LA DA’s announcement, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file law enforcement officers, issued the following statement…
“As homicides, shooting victims and shots fired into occupied homes soar in Los Angeles, it’s disturbing that Gascon’s first act in office is to explore every avenue possible to release from jail those responsible for this bloodshed. These victims and law-abiding residents lost a voice today while criminals and gang members gained an ally in the prosecutor’s office.”
You’d have to be nuts to think this is a good idea.
Think it can’t happen here? Think again.
Darcy Spears of KTNV TV-13 (ABC) recently reported on the murder of Ciro Vasquez Jr. outside his family’s taco shop in Las Vegas by 29-year-old Angel Martinez, who “has a rap sheet of 11 criminal cases, including possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest, trespassing and multiple charges of domestic battery.”
As Mr. Vasquez’s sister sadly observed…
“This year alone he (Martinez) was arrested on four different occasions, all within a few months of each other. Unfortunately, we feel like the system failed. They failed him, they failed us – our family, my brother. … (Martinez) was known to be a violent person so he shouldn’t have been on the street.”
Ms. Spears went on to explain how our get-out-of-jail-free criminal justice system cost Mr. Vasquez his life…
“In Martinez’s case, either the (previous) charges were dismissed or he was released, again and again, on his own recognizance — or O.R. — without having to post bail. … When he allegedly stabbed Ciro Vasquez Jr., Angel Martinez was out of jail on an automatic O.R. release in a pending misdemeanor case.”
And that’s not the only case Ms. Spears details in her investigation. To read to the full story, click here.
Nevertheless, social justice warriors such as the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) continue pushing for new catch-and-release “reform” policies at the state Legislature, county commissions and city halls.
We’d have to be nuts to let them get away with it.
Mr. Muth is president Citizen Outreach a non-profit grassroots advocacy organization. You can get free updates and breaking news on this issue by going to: stopcatchandrelease.com
