Trump’s bail order yanks federal cash to halt – Latest News
At long final, somebody is prepared to carry sanity back to our justice system.
On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an government order to finish “cashless bail,” bringing to an abrupt finish the huge federal grants utilized by states to fund pretrial release bureaucracies nationwide.
For instance, the Edward Byrne-JAG grant — named for NYPD Officer Edward Byrne, murdered in 1988 defending a witness from a drug syndicate — was designed to combat drug crimes.
But in New York and elsewhere, that money has been hijacked to bankroll “catch and release” insurance policies that keep repeat offenders on the road and depart victims behind.
Last 12 months New York City used $103 million in federal funds to run its “supervised release program” — a big pretrial paperwork of directors, case managers and social employees.
Some jurisdictions spend on issues like ankle bracelets, drug testing, cellphone check-in systems and transportation vouchers — all from federal grant money.
For years, politicians and activists have claimed “cashless bail” is about equity.
Let’s call it what it’s: A failed social justice experiment, funded by taxpayers.
Federal money created complete bureaucracies devoted not to prosecuting crime, however to merely managing it in order to bypass the use of secured bail — a centuries-old system that ensures defendants return to court docket whereas defending the neighborhood.
The end result?
Offenders arrested are back on the road in a few hours, reoffending and laughing on the system.
Victims are forgotten.
Communities are terrorized.
And law enforcement officers are compelled to re-arrest the identical people time and time again.
Trump’s order is more than a coverage correction — it’s a line within the sand.
It tells states: If you need to proceed these reckless applications, do it in your own dime, not the taxpayer’s.
That issues.
Without federal funding, bloated pretrial bureaucracies collapse below their own weight.
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States will probably be compelled to return to what works: secured bail, backed by households and communities with a vested curiosity in making certain defendants show up.
When a mother or dad co-signs, when a household places up their home, when a secured bail agent pledges his license and livelihood — accountability returns to the justice system.
We’ve seen the toll of failed insurance policies, from New York to California to Illinois.
In a cashless system, criminals know there are no actual penalties.
They boast brazenly about being untouchable, whereas victims are revictimized by a system that values ideology over security.
New Yorkers, specifically, know this ache.
Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo compelled bail reform into his state funds with no debate and no regard for warnings from police, prosecutors, or victims’ advocates.
We nonetheless dwell with that harm immediately.
The federal authorities, below Trump’s management, is lastly saying enough.
Accountability will not be cruelty — it’s justice.
Secured bail balances the presumption of innocence with public security.
And it really works: Defendants return to court docket at far larger charges than in taxpayer-funded applications, at zero price to the public.
Trump’s order is a turning level.
It sends a clear message: America will no longer subsidize insurance policies that endanger residents and embolden criminals.
Michelle Esquenazi is president of the National Association of Bail Agents and of the New York State Bail Association.
