Like the research he did on qualified immunity, Damaso Reyes now provides deep insight and analysis of the need for bail reform. As he notes, so much of our legal system can be traced back to the Constitution, and bail reform is no exception. “The 8th Amendment,” he writes, states “that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
That is de jure; de facto is another story where a terrible injustice cries out for bail reform, and Reyes pursues this matter thoroughly in a 3-part series, including an engrossing segment on those caught in the throes of pretrial detention and unable to afford bail.
Eileen Maher’s situation is endemic of those locked up and detained because the payment of bail could not be raised. She described her incarceration at Rikers as “absolutely dehumanizing.” Even after she explained to potential employers that she was a “criminalized survivor of domestic violence” her plea fell on deaf ears.
Reyes, through an array of interviews with experts and data, has amassed a compelling history of the long fight for bail reform that was finally passed in 2019, a veritable revolution, he contends, “in the bail system in New York.”
This editorial is but a truncated version of Reyes’ rigorous chronicling of the bumpy road to bail reform and once again he demonstrates the need for investigative journalism, particularly as it pertains to the seemingly impervious injustices in our legal system.