Gibbons: Tackle crime by fixing what’s broken
The president of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission says we need to change the juvenile justice system’s arbitrary 19th birthday cutoff and use public safety as the overriding factor in bail decisions.
There are 9 article(s) tagged bail reform:
The president of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission says we need to change the juvenile justice system’s arbitrary 19th birthday cutoff and use public safety as the overriding factor in bail decisions.
“Different parts of the criminal justice system tend to operate in silos, and so an easily accessible, easy to understand, transparent reporting system will require the cooperation of many different parties. The public deserves it.”
“Everyone wants the same thing — a just process for the accused and a safe city. But the truth is the public does not know if judges are being too lenient or even who they are. We need a centralized source of data where everyone can access the same information.”
“Loud and powerful opponents of progress, such as Mayor Jim Strickland, have wrongly claimed that Shelby County’s pretrial policies undermine public safety. There is no data behind his claims.”
“Blaming ‘bail reform’ is a political talking point — a red herring — that does nothing to address the problem. We can do better.”
“The DA and our county commissioners need to stand up for the law-abiding people of Memphis and do whatever it takes to reverse this disastrous bail-reform policy.”
The new state law requiring elected judges to make decisions about releasing defendants accused of violent felonies takes effect July 1. The County Commission is asking General Sessions judges to start doing that immediately.
The bill requires trial court and general sessions court judges to set bail for certain violent felonies.
The discussion was hosted by Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery, one day before the midterm elections.
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