New York voters strongly support recent changes to the state’s controversial 2019 bail reforms, but most also believe the changes won’t affect the crime rate or could make it worse.
That’s the conclusion of a new Siena College poll released Monday, which showed a majority of every demographic group surveyed favored changing bail reform laws to give judges more discretion in some cases.
But even when voters support the idea of changing the law, 38% also said the changes would have no effect on the crime rate, and another 16% said the changes could drive an increase in crime.
“While twice as many voters think the changes will decrease rather than increase crime, a plurality say the changes will not affect the crime rate,” Steven Greenberg, a pollster for Siena College, said in a statement.
Crime remains a priority for voters: 24% said it would be their top issue when they vote for governor in November, nearly 3 times more than any other issue on a long list.
The online and telephone poll of 806 registered voters in New York state was conducted April 18-21 and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.
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