LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. — New Yorker say they approve of the recent change to the bail law, but don't think it will have any effect on crime, according to a new poll.
The poll was conducted by the Siena Research Institute at Siena College. The results of the poll were released Monday morning.
Crime and economic issues were mentioned by voters as most important to them, and would play a role in deciding which candidate to support in the upcoming governor race.
Among one of the questions asked of voters, "Three years ago, New York passed a law eliminating monetary bail for people facing misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges. Do you think this law has been good for New York, or bad for New York?"
Voters responded in the April poll with 54% bad for New York, compared to 34% who said it was good for New York.
Since then, the Albany has made changes to the law, making it easier for judges to set bail and jail suspects who were repeat offenders. Voters approve of the change, but wonder if it will help.
“The changes the Governor and Legislature made to the bail law – including giving judges more discretion on setting bail in certain instances – enjoy strong support from voters across the board, with at least 58% of voters of every party, region and race supporting the changes,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
“On whether voters think these changes will affect the crime rate – by better than two-to-one, they think the 2019 bail law resulted in an increase in crime – the jury is still out,” Greenberg said. “While twice as many voters think the changes will decrease rather than increase crime, a plurality says the changes won’t affect the crime rate.”
You can read the full poll results here: