Tedisco wants Hochul to call special session to repeal bail reform

Republican Sen. Jim Tedisco is calling on Gov. Hochul to have another special session to repeal bail reform. Law enforcement officials and a woman whose father was stabbed to death in June joined Tedisco on Friday

Tedisco says the reforms that were made to the bail system are just not working. He has proposed two bills that would give judges more discretion when holding people for crimes.

Tammy Patrick of Johnstown joined the senator. A man fatally stabbed her father, John Lee of Gloversville, on June 9. The suspect, Thomas Quillan, was arrested and charged with assaulting a man the day before Lee was killed.

Quillan was charged with misdemeanor third-degree assault. Tedisco argues that this offense didn’t qualify for bail. Tedisco and Patrick believe that if a judge had the ability to keep Quillan in jail, Lee may still be alive today.

Mike Murphy, communications director for Senate Democrats, says:
“The death of John Lee is a tragedy and my heart goes out to his entire family, every New Yorker should feel safe in their community. This death could have been prevented. While we do not have all the details on this case, the judge clearly had the ability to set bail on this individual. Bail reforms only deal with misdemeanors and some non-violent felonies. All violent felonies, various non-violent felonies and repeat offenders are still subject to bail and judicial discretion. Under the bail reforms we made last session some of the actions included clarifying language to make repeat offenses eligible for bail, making hate crimes eligible for bail, and allowing judges to consider if the crime charged caused serious harm to a person or group of people when setting bail.”

NewsChannel 13 has reached out to Hochul’s office. We are still waiting for a response.