BY Nick Reisman New York State
PUBLISHED 7:41 AM ET Feb. 27, 2020

The state's top judge on Wednesday said she was confident the "unintended consequences" of the new cash bail law will be changed by state lawmakers to allow judges the ability to keep people in jail deemed too dangerous for release.

“I believe that without compromising the purity of its purpose, the new legislation can be amended, and strengthened, to recognize a narrow exception allowing judges, after a full and fair adversarial hearing, to detain a defendant in those few and extraordinary cases where such a credible threat exists,” Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said.

BY Nick Reisman New York State
PUBLISHED 7:07 AM ET Feb. 14, 2020

An ad campaign to be launched Friday by the New York State United Teachers union will push for a tax increase for wealthy people in the state in order to add more spending for school aid and education.

The ad being released Friday is part of a half-million dollar buy.

BY Nick Reisman New York State
PUBLISHED 6:31 AM ET Feb. 13, 2020

The New York City Bar Association in a letter this week urged the state's top elected leaders to not alter or rollback the law ending cash bail for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies.

"We are cognizant of the pressures created by recent attacks on bail reform but we urge you to keep these vital changes intact for long enough to permit thoughtful study and analysis of the effects of the changes," the New York City Bar Association wrote in the letter.

BY Nick Reisman Albany/Capital Region
PUBLISHED 7:20 AM ET Feb. 11, 2020

As expected on Monday, New York officials filed a lawsuit to reverse the federal government's freeze on trusted traveler programs for residents who are registering or must renew.

Not so expected? The criticism by James P. Kennedy, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, who knocked the measure that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses, known as the Green Light Law.

BY Nick Reisman New York State
PUBLISHED 7:07 AM ET Feb. 11, 2020

State lawmakers want a report on how diverse New York's judiciary actually is, introducing a bill Monday that would lead to the compiling and publishing of an annual report on the issue.

The measure, backed by Sens. Brad Hoylman and Luis Sepulveda, would require the Office of Court Administration to compile the demographic information on the state's judges and justices.