Republican candidate for governor U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin has long advocated for changes to the state's cashless bail laws, but clarified he would not support mandatory pretrial confinement for every case or criminal offense.
He doubled down on his support during a campaign event Thursday for judges to have more discretion in setting bail, setting a "dangerous" standard, considering a defendant's flight risk, the seriousness of offense and past criminal record.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and proponents of the recent changes to cashless bail have said many judges are incorrectly invoking the statute.
"You could weigh multiple factors," Zeldin said. "...I believe there should be far more offenses that are bail-eligible than there are today."
The congressman did not specify which offenses should be bail-eligible, or how that decision should be made.
He reiterated the decision should be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the person's record and severity of the offense.
"If you were to have someone commit a low-level offense, a clean record, who is not a flight risk, is not a danger and the only reason they would be stuck [in jail] is because they cannot afford $100?" Zeldin asked. "We are all in agreement that person should not be stuck solely because they can't afford $100."
Earlier this week, Gov. Hochul said she is open to reviewing the state's pretrial release data and potential additional changes when lawmakers return to Albany in January. The Legislature voted in the last state budget to expand factors judges can consider when making a decision on bail, including when bail can be set for gun crimes, for repeat offenders and others that took effect in May.
"We will look at the data — we’ll see what’s working, we'll see what's not working," Hochul said Monday. "Six months of data is still a small sampling, but we'll be able to see what's going on and we'll be able to see the nationwide phenomenon."
The governor stresses waiting for data to see if recent changes to the legislation have had an impact.