Senate Bill S8547

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8547

SPONSOR: PALUMBO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to qualifying
offenses for pre-trial detention

 
PURPOSE:

This act would add all A and B level drug offenses under article two
hundred twenty of the penal law to the definition of "qualifying
offense" which were exempted under the bail reform sections of part JJJ
of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019 also known as the Revenue bill of the
financial Year 2020 Enacted Budget.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends paragraph d of section 510.10 of the criminal procedure
law, as added by section2 of part JJJ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019.

Section 2 sets for the effective date
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Bail reform provisions were inserted into last year's enacted state
budget. Now that the public has had the opportunity to review these
provisions there have been concerns raised that the mandatory pretrial
release of those charged with most A level felony drug offenses will
hamper a prosecutor's ability to build narcotics cases against major
drug kingpins. In particular, the following offenses require mandatory
pretrial release under the enacted law: Criminal possession of a
controlled substance in the second degree (A-II felony), Criminal
possession of a controlled substance in the first degree (A-I felony),
Criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree A-II felo-
ny) and Criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree (A-I
felony). In addition, all B level felonies under this section will
require mandatory pretrial release including Criminal sale of a
controlled substance to a child and Unlawful manufacture of methampheta-
mine in the first degree.  Recently, New York City's Special Narcotics
Prosecutor stated that the only crime for which bail will remain avail-
able, "Operating as a Major Trafficker" is rarely charged. During the
past five years, her office has been involved in prosecutions netting
nearly four tons of narcotics (heroin fentanyl and cocaine). The Special
Narcotics Prosecutor has charged fewer than two dozen defendants in
connection with those prosecutions but instead filed other A felony
charges. Publicly available reports from the Division of Criminal
Justice Services (2011-2016) indicate that "Operating as a Major Drug
Trafficker" is charged in an average of 35 cases annually statewide.  In
contrast, more than 1.000defendants in New York City alone have been
charged with other A-1 level felony charges which were specifically
excluded from this new statute. With New York State continuing to deal
with an opioid epidemic which has killed thousands of New Yorkers per
year, this change further jeopardizes public safety by making it harder
to go after those bringing large amounts of deadly drugs into our state
and distributing them onto our streets.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019 A.7409A

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

There are no direct costs to the state or local governments. This act
would result in these cases being treated as they were prior to the
enactment of the bail reform statue enacted January 1, 2020.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as
section 2 of part JJJ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, take effect.