ONEIDA COUNTY, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – The Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara is once again speaking out about bail reform in a letter to Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon and Senator Joseph Griffo.

“One of the things I try to do is when there’s a glaring example of how bail reform is failing our community and failing the citizens of our their attention. The failed bail reform example involves a man who was in a car accident in the city of Utica where he allegedly was operating the car with a blood alcohol concentration of point 32. Because of bail reform, the police can only give him a ticket so he is not going to have any type of conditions on him he’s just released. The individual then got into another accident a month later and he allegedly was operating a vehicle with a b-a-c at point 30 and he had two children in the car. The District Attorney says judges need to have the discretion to set bail in more cases than what the current law allows. this is just one example of how the current bail legislation has made the community less safe. Judges need to have the discretion to set bail in more cases than what the current law allows. 

The DA says that this issue is something that voters need to remember when electing public officials. We vote for the people that represent us and what that person’s position is on this is it giving more and more rights and more and more loopholes to people who commit crimes or is it about passing laws and making people accountable that choose to victimize other people. I would prefer that we start holding these people accountable and bring justice to innocent victims