Judging Freedom - NY Gov. Hochul points finger at ‘system, judges’ for rise in crime

Episode Date: November 3, 2022

#2A #secondamendment #guns #NY #HOCHULSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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by the name of Adam Benefield killed his estranged wife in front of their children. Mr. Benefield had just finished serving 15 years in jail for kidnapping another woman, not his wife. He gets out of jail and he beats up his wife and it's on tape. It's on videotape. He's arrested for that and the judge lets him out with no bail because of the crazy New York bail laws. He then kills his wife while he's free. He's not out on bail. He's free. There's no bail. So why does a guy with a record of kidnapping, 15 years in jail, beating up his wife on tape, which the prosecutors had to show to the judge. Why does the judge let him go? Because of the New York State bail laws, which require that the judge not be able to take into account, I should say prohibit

the judge from taking into account the dangerousness of the defendant. That's the word of the statute. I think the word is danger, but they use dangerousness. When I was on the bench in New Jersey, the judges had broad discretion. You look at the defendant's background. You look at the nature of the charge against him. You look at what other crimes he may have committed. You look at the quality and value of the evidence against him. You look at what other crimes he may have committed. You look at the quality and value of the evidence against him. You look at his roots in the community. And then you decide, is this person going to come back for the trial? Is this person a danger to society? Is this person who is accused of committing a violent act, does he already have a record for

having done so before? Is he going to walk out of this courtroom and attack the person who filed the complaint against him? You take all of that into account, and then you decide what the bail should be. In this case, there should have been no bail. He should have been locked up. Instead, it was no bail, and he was set free. That's the background. It's newsworthy because the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, is in a neck and neck battle against Congressman Lee Zeldin for her election as governor. She became governor because she was the lieutenant governor when Andrew Cuomo, the elected governor, resigned. So she has never been elected. So this is not her re-election, this is her election. Congressman Zeldin is a moderate Republican who's within two or three percentage points of her today, Thursday, with only five days to go until election day.

And in response to Congressman Zeldin's harsh criticism of her for supporting these no bail laws, for supporting these laws that prohibit judges from taking into account the danger to the community of the defendant, she said, it's not my fault. It's the system's fault. Well, to an extent, she's right. She is the system. Governor Hochul, you are the system. You, Governor Hochul, are largely responsible for this no bail law in New York. You, Governor Hochul, have not lifted a finger to change the laws in New York. And these horrible tragedies just keep happening.

Gosh, do I hope that Congressman Zeldin defeats you. But I also wish you'd be honest about this, Governor, and own up to the damage you've done and the mess you've caused. Judge Lampal Tano for judging freedom.