Civil rights leaders don't mince words, tell Albany lawmakers to pass bail reform or they'll remember it come election time
NEW YORK -- Civil rights leaders held a fiery rally on Wednesday to pressure state lawmakers to give judges more discretion to put the bad guys behind bars.
Cell doors will close on more repeat offenders if the powers that be in Albany approve a new change to the bail laws. But if the lawmakers don't, an influential group of civil rights leaders say it could cost them their jobs.
"Make no mistake about it, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, we sent you to Albany. Carl Heastie, make no mistake about it, we sent you to Albany. And just like we sent you to Albany, we can send you away from Albany," said the Rev. Dr. Johnnie Green Jr., Mount Neboh Baptist Church.
READ MORE: A conversation on bail reform: Law enforcement experts sound off on what's at stake
Luminaries of the Civil Rights Movement, including NAACP President Hazel Dukes, Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, and Bishop Raymond Rivera of the Latino Pastoral Action Center, gathered in Harlem to demand bail reform, a change that would end the requirement that judges set the least restrictive bail for repeat offenders and others who have terrorized communities.
"Carl Heastie, sign the bill. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, sign the bill. It's not about we don't like you. We like our kids alive," said Jackie Rowe Adams, of Harlem Mothers Save.
The group concentrated its firepower on the top bananas in Albany, including Assembly Speaker Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, who hold the cards about whether the governor's bail reform plan is part of the new budget, which is due by the end of the week.
Although lawmakers have been reluctant, there is widespread support for change, with 72% of New Yorkers supporting bail reform, according to a Siena research poll.
Rev. Green minced no words in pointing out how the failure to act would make lawmakers vulnerable.
"If we don't get this issue of public safety right now, so many who are on the far right will use it to attack us," Green said.
Sources told CBS2 there has been some movement in the Legislature and there may be an opening for a compromise. But since this is Albany, there's no done deal until there is a deal.
