Council Speaker Calls for Criminal Justice Reform

NEW YORK (AP) —

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito turned her first State of the City address into a rallying cry for those at the margins of the nation’s largest city, proposing sweeping reforms to its criminal justice system while outlining increased aid for the poor, the homeless and illegals.

Mark-Viverito declared that the city’s justice system was sending too many black and Latino men to jail for minor offenses. She proposed that some of those low-level violations, like jumping a subway turnstile, warrant only summonses or desk appearance tickets instead of time in jail.

She also proposed the creation of a $1.4 million bail fund to assist low-risk, non-violent offenders pay small bail amounts, and the creation of a new agency to make certain that the poor have access to legal representation.

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