Krasner to host town hall meetings to discuss new bail system
By Alex Lloyd Gross
District Attorney Larry Krasner instituted a new bail system last week that was the first step to not having the need for cash bail in Philadelphia. It has been met with swift condemnation from police and equally swift commendation from low income people. There are questions. Lots of people have them. In fact, this Tuesday, February 27, 2018, he will told a town hall meeting on the subject. It will be held at 5901 Kingsessing Ave. at the Frances Myers Rec Center and it starts at 6:00 PM. Philadelphia Councilman Kenyatta Johnson will be there and will be hosting the event.
There are 25 charges that the DA will not ask for cash bail. Some of them, law enforcement says are pretty serious. Resisting Arrest is one of them. When someone does not listen to the cops or runs away, or fights, they get charged with resisting arrest. The reason they resisted in the fist place, is because they did not want to go to jail. Small amounts of drugs and DUI also are on the list.
Proponents of the law known that when John comes back from a function and gets a DUI, he will show up for court. He might have made a mistake and he will address it in court. It’s his only arrest. Then, there are career criminals like Boris Malinsky, who have arrest records as long as their arm. Literally. Malinsky is someone that should not benefit from cash bail, as he is a threat to society. That is why the DA has the authority to deviate from this policy and ask for cash bail, to keep people like him behind bars.
There may be more town hall meetings about this subject in the future. In reality, the DA has been letting people go with no cash bail for decades, when they are arrested for minor crimes. The ARD program has been very successful in Philly. As the cash bail system is overhauled. do not expect people arrested for carjacking and armed robbery to get released on a signature. It will not happen.