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New Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said Tuesday he’ll turning up the heat on state lawmakers to ax a controversial law that eliminated cash bail for certain crimes.
Blakeman, a Republican, said during his inaugural address as Nassau’s top official that he will join with new District Attorney Annie Donnelly and law enforcement officials to put pressure on Democrats who control the state Legislature to repeal the Bail Reform Act.
“Criminals have more rights than victims,” Blakeman said at a speech delivered at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City. “Enough is enough.”
Donnelly, a Republican and career prosecutor in the Nassau County DA’s office, trounced state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a former federal prosecutor, by 20 percentage points in the Nassau DA’s race by painting her Democratic opponent as soft on crime for backing bail reform as part of the state budget in 2019.
Blakeman also campaigned on the issue against Democratic incumbent Laura Curran, who blamed her loss on Kaminsky.
An emboldened Blakeman told The Post Tuesday night he will “absolutely” hold Long Island Democrats accountable if they fail to correct what he said was their mistake of voting to eliminate bail.
“There’s supposed to be a separation of powers but the Legislature substituted their own judgment for judges,” he said. “They did it with a broad stroke.
“Public safety is the most important oblig ation of the government,” he added. “Bail reform is nothing more than a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card.”
The bail reform that took effect two years ago eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanor crimes or “non-violent” crimes. Proponents pushed for the law after complaining that too many poor and mostly minority defendants were detained for petty or low-level crimes because they couldn’t afford the cash bail for release.
But law enforcement officials have complained that too many dangerous career criminals were set free to await trial and then re-arrested for more violent crimes.
“As we saw in last fall’s election, voters held legislators accountable who voted for the Bail Reform Act,” he said.
Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who previously served as Nassau County executive and is now running for governor, also called for tightening up the bail law during a Tuesday press conference.
Blakeman is the ex-husband of Nancy Shevell, a former MTA board member who is now wed to ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. He previously ran unsuccessfully for US Senate, Congress and state comptroller and served on the Hempstead Town Council before winning the county executive’s seat.
The new Nassau leader also emphasized that the county will operate like business as usual despite the latest coronavirus outbreak.
“Starting today, Nassau Is Normal Again,” he said. “Reason and common sense must supplant hysteria.”
“Nassau County is open for business.”
He said residents “can no longer be afraid” of COVID and said the latest outbreak is manageable.
While he will promote testing and vaccinations, Blakeman said he opposes mandates as heavy-handed.
“For that reason, I will not enforce the state mask mandate in this county, and I will lobby Albany to keep our kids in schools and not force them to wear masks,” Blakeman said.
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