I don't think it's "open season" on anybody. That Penny was prosecuted at all is a deterrent. Another selection of 12 people might have seen things the other way, after all. Who wants to put their life on hold and their freedom at risk to stop a crazy person in the subway or on the street, from threatening somebody?
Where I agree with you is that the public is clearly tired of ceding public spaces to people with mental health issues. That doesn't mean the public lacks compassion. Anybody I'd want to discuss this with believes that Neely should be alive and that Penny never should have been put in that situation. I say that even though I believe it was wrong to prosecute Penny (to the point where I believe Bragg's office should be investigated).
In her opening statement, the prosecutor actually said that New Yorkers "know how" to deal with people having outbursts on the subway or in public spaces -- we know not to make eye contact or draw attention to ourselves, to be aware but ultimately to limit engagement and move on. That description, though practically accurate, means ceding control of public spaces to the person experiencing the most obvious mental breakdown.
People do not actually believe that should be the answer. They believe that when somebody rants that they are going to kill people on the subway that police and social workers will show up to deal with it, in short order. You can't expect people to pretend that potentially violent encounters with mentally hurt people is just a quirk of urban life.
Thoughtful piece overall, but what's your evidence that but for bail reform and other recent reforms he would have been incarcerated at the beginning of this year?
Bail, as you know, is simply a pre-trial mechanism. If he was steered into a program, that would have happened with or without bail reform. Indeed, many of his arrests were pre-2020 when the law took effect. Likewise I'm unclear how speedy trial reform, discovery reform, raise the age, or ending solitary (the chief reforms passed) have any relevance here.
Our system is clearly run poorly and fails people. My uncle worked at Creedmor for decades, and I agree we need a stricter mental health system when people can't care for themselves. But let's not generalize and say "this situation could have been avoided if not for those pesky criminal justice reformers."
I don't think it's "open season" on anybody. That Penny was prosecuted at all is a deterrent. Another selection of 12 people might have seen things the other way, after all. Who wants to put their life on hold and their freedom at risk to stop a crazy person in the subway or on the street, from threatening somebody?
Where I agree with you is that the public is clearly tired of ceding public spaces to people with mental health issues. That doesn't mean the public lacks compassion. Anybody I'd want to discuss this with believes that Neely should be alive and that Penny never should have been put in that situation. I say that even though I believe it was wrong to prosecute Penny (to the point where I believe Bragg's office should be investigated).
In her opening statement, the prosecutor actually said that New Yorkers "know how" to deal with people having outbursts on the subway or in public spaces -- we know not to make eye contact or draw attention to ourselves, to be aware but ultimately to limit engagement and move on. That description, though practically accurate, means ceding control of public spaces to the person experiencing the most obvious mental breakdown.
People do not actually believe that should be the answer. They believe that when somebody rants that they are going to kill people on the subway that police and social workers will show up to deal with it, in short order. You can't expect people to pretend that potentially violent encounters with mentally hurt people is just a quirk of urban life.
Thoughtful piece overall, but what's your evidence that but for bail reform and other recent reforms he would have been incarcerated at the beginning of this year?
Bail, as you know, is simply a pre-trial mechanism. If he was steered into a program, that would have happened with or without bail reform. Indeed, many of his arrests were pre-2020 when the law took effect. Likewise I'm unclear how speedy trial reform, discovery reform, raise the age, or ending solitary (the chief reforms passed) have any relevance here.
Our system is clearly run poorly and fails people. My uncle worked at Creedmor for decades, and I agree we need a stricter mental health system when people can't care for themselves. But let's not generalize and say "this situation could have been avoided if not for those pesky criminal justice reformers."