New York state lawmakers on Sunday and early Monday morning completed their work on legislation that promises to create an entirely new criminal justice system that is intended to keep more people out of jail and have criminal proceedings disposed of more quickly.

Those changes will eliminate cash bail for most low-level crimes, like misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, and require prosecutors and the defense to abide by strict deadlines for the exchange of material that’s intended to be used at trial. The new law will take effect next year.

They’ll also require stronger oversight by judges as to how the number of days since the start of a criminal proceeding can be tolled. Criminal charges are supposed to be resolved within a set number of days in New York, depending on the level of crime. Litigants can currently use procedural moves to stop the clock, effectively delaying a defendant’s trial for various reasons.

The new changes to the state’s laws on cash bail, criminal discovery and speedy trial were included in one of 10 omnibus bills that made up the $175 billion state budget passed by state lawmakers in Albany from Sunday afternoon into early Monday morning. The state Assembly didn’t pass the last budget bill and adjourn until shortly before 8 a.m. Monday.

“It was a tough one. There wasn’t a lot of good things in here,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, said of the budget. “But I have to say, one of the things that is, because particularly for me, when I first became speaker … I felt like my speakership would be in vain if we didn’t reform the criminal justice system here in the state of New York.”

The State Senate wrapped up voting on the last set of budget bills shortly after 3 a.m. Monday after a marathon session of voting that started Sunday morning.

“Our New York Senate is responsible for the most historic and dramatic reforms to our troubled criminal justice system, including realizing the bail reform many of us sought for years,” said Sen. Michael Gianaris, D-Queens, the deputy majority leader in the chamber.
Shortly after bill language on the various criminal justice reforms was made public Sunday afternoon, stakeholders on the issue started to emerge with mixed views of the legislation.