As you probably know there is an extremely strong push to roll back bail reform legislation enacted in New York 2+ years ago.
It might be an excellent intellectual exercise for you to do a five page critical analysis of current legislation designed to roll back the bail reform laws.
Off the top my head you could summarize the issue starting with the constitutional purpose of bail the benefits, for criminal defendant of being at liberty while preparing for trial, the presumption of innocence, financial considerations etc.
In a separate section you could also take a crack at describing the most persuasive reasons for the practice that existed in New York State for at least 100 years of setting cash bails that could often not be met by persons who were not affluent.
I could help you with this part because the law was basically a thinly veiled legal fiction for the 20th century.
We could discuss the final section if you are interested in moving in this direction.
That could include your recommendation.
Options for addressing the important and competing interests at play in bail determinations could include: 1) the status quo; 2) returning to the old system; 3) using some variation of the federal system whereby preventative detention based upon a defendant’s demonstrated dangerousness during the pretrial period. [ You can explore this option by Googling the federal Bail Reform Act/preventative detention act, which is discussed in detail in United States v. Anthony (“Fat Tony”) Salerno case]. In that case, SCOTUS, held that if the government met the initial threshold showing of dangerousness it could constitutionally hold someone without bail prior to trial without violating the bill rights; or 4) something you think up.
