Amid a spike in hate crimes in New York City, many Jews are worried that a new “no bail” law might make their neighborhoods more dangerous. They are calling on politicians to reverse the policy — and lawmakers are listening.
The new law, which went into effect Jan. 1, bars judges from setting bail on misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, even when those charges are listed as hate crimes.
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On the fifth night of Hanukkah in December, Tiffany Harris slapped three women in quick succession in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a neighborhood with a large Hasidic population. It was one of at least eight anti-Semitic incidents in the city over the holiday.
“After she said ‘F you Jews,’ she rattled off a bunch of other incoherent stuff,” Dalia Shusterman, one of the alleged victims, told the Forward a week after the incident. “She obviously had some mental issues.”
No one was seriously injured, and police quickly arrested Harris, whose lawyer said she likely has an as-yet undiagnosed psychiatric disorder. But in anticipation of the new cash bail rules soon going into effect, the judge who saw her released her shortly after.
A day later, Harris allegedly punched another person in Brooklyn. After she was arrested and released for that incident, she was arrested a third time for allegedly skipping a meeting with a social worker.
