#Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s full of it on looters and the no-bail law

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NY Governor Andrew Cuomo and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. at a June 2019 press event.
Matthew McDermott

Right now, anyone arrested for looting gets rapidly released, with no need to post bail to avoid jail until trial. Gov. Andrew Cuomo could fix it — but he’s instead pretending that the laws aren’t crystal-clear.

That would be laws Cuomo has signed, including last year’s horrific “no bail” law and this year’s inadequate fixes to it.

Manhattan DA Cy Vance has called on the gov to use his emergency powers to settle the issue (for now) — that is, to override the no-bail law that stops judges from using their discretion to remand dangerous perps.

But Cuomo won’t admit the truth, as outlined not just by the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, but also the state Office of Court Administration.

The gov says DAs should charge looters with Burglary 2, which allows judges to order bail be posted or the perp heads to jail. But that requires that the use of a “dangerous instrument” be part of the alleged crime. And the ruling from the state’s top court is clear: Someone has to be on the other side of the window when you throw a brick through it. If no one’s there, it’s not a weapon, and jail/bail is off the table.

The gov says DAs should level Burglary 2 charges anyway and hope the courts agree, on the grounds that past cases didn’t include the dangerous mass looting now seen. Sorry: As Orange County DA David Hoovler, the head of the state DAs Association, explained Thursday, such blatant overcharging “would run afoul of the ethical obligations prosecutors are sworn to uphold.”

The gov’s folks cite formal opinions from top lawyers for the state Senate and Assembly to the effect that legislators’ intent matches Cuomo’s reading. That’s pure butt-covering from the Legislature: The lawmakers who passed the no-bail law clearly did intend to spring almost everyone — that’s the language they passed into law and what they left in place when they amended it this year.

If legislators now “intend” otherwise, they should amend the law immediately. If they won’t, a Cuomo emergency order is the only hope. Either way, it’s up to the folks who made this mess to clean it up.