New York County Defender Services

"Thalia Karny had just moved from the Bronx to the über-wealthy Manhattan as a public defender when she met Qulon McCain. He'd been caught stealing socks from Bloomingdale's, and like Welch in Tennessee faced a bumped-up felony charge because the store had given him a "trespass notice.""

Data from cases across Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, collected by New York County Defender Services and Court Watch NYC and reviewed by New York Focus, show that PSBs were set at an average of 144% of the commercial bond amount and 232% of the money bail amount.

NYCDS released a new report that includes a survey of our incarcerated clients. We are aware of no other survey in the US that has sought to collect data about the experiences of incarcerated people during the pandemic.

New York State requires leadership from the State Senate to help ensure that incarcerated people are not ravaged by the coronavirus when cases spike again.

Our city jails need robust COVID-19 policies and procedures, yes, but the most effective solution is staring us all in the face. The city must not act as if the work to reduce our jail population is finished. We must release as many people as possible from our jails in advance of an inevitable uptick in COVID-19 cases.