On Wednesday’s Day of the NewElie Honig, CNN’s legal analyst, actually demanded tougher crime responses following the Waukesha tragedy, Wisconsin. A man drove an SUV through a parade. Six people died as a result of their injuries. Darrell Brooks (the perpetrator) is currently being held. However, he was already out on $1000 bail previously for running over the mother and child of the SUV.
But first, anchor John Berman played a clip of former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, condemning the Waukesha attack and decrying “radicals from New York and elsewhere calling for the end of prison and the end of cash bail.”
Berman insisted this was somehow out of the ordinary: “First, the ending of prison and the ending of bail are completely separate issues. Let’s separate them now. It is a fact that drastic changes in the criminal justice system can be made, but they are often liberal talk points. These include defunding police and abolishing prisons.
At the end of October, President Biden released a “National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality,” which included a promise to “work to end cash bail and reform our pretrial system, recognizing the harm these processes cause, particularly for Black women and families.” In this case, low cash bail enabled the deaths of six people celebrating at a Christmas parade.
This segment was missing the mention of “Biden”. It was impossible for him to be mentioned.
Honig called the prior release of Brooks “the result of a broken cash bail system in Wisconsin and many other states, combined with prosecutorial malpractice,” explaining that, currently, every defendant in that state is entitled to cash bail. Honig argued that bail should be determined according to risk and not according to wealth.
After Brooks’ prior criminal history was revealed, the Milwaukee district attorney’s office acknowledged that the bail posted was “inappropriately low.”
In response to this unsatisfying non-apology, Honig exclaimed, “that is the understatement of the century…Darrell Brooks has a criminal record going back to the 90s. He is a registered sexual offender. He is arrested in 2020 for a firearms offense. Two weeks later, he is arrested for trying run over someone with a vehicle. This time, the bail was increased from $500 to $1,000. This is absurd. That is inexplicable.”
John Chisholm is the district attorney and has advocated reforms that would put criminals on the streets earlier.
Honig stated that he believed “Darrell Brooks certainly would have qualified” as one of the “most violent offenders” who would have been incarcerated without the option of cash bail in states such as New Jersey, with tougher bail laws for violent offenders. “High-risk people shouldn’t pay their way out if they are high-risk.,” he concluded.
“It only works if the violent offenders can’t get out, at all,” Berman agreed.
After a shocking crime like this, even the liberal media acknowledges the foolishness of the radical left’s proposed criminal justice reforms.
Chevrolet sponsored the segment.
You can read the entire segment transcript by clicking on Expand
CNN New Day
11/24/21
7.39.46 amJOHN BERMAN – Darrell Brooks, a police officer in custody of Darrell Brooks, was released by the D.A. after posting $1,000 cash bail. The D.A. now claims this was an inappropriately low bail rate. That raises concerns about a subject that was supported by both parties: Bail reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP).
SCOTT WALKER : This is someone who should be in prison. After all of this talk with radicals in New York calling for cash bail and prison reform, it is shocking. This is a terrible thing that happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP).
BERMAN The end of jail and bail are completely separate issues. Let’s seperate them immediately. Elie Honig (CNN senior legal analyst, former state and federal prosecutor) is joining us. He was heavily involved in New Jersey’s overhaul of bail.
You know what? People see this picture and conclude that Elie paid 1,000 dollars for his freedom from violent crime. What could this be?ELIE HONIG (Yes, John), this is the result a broken bail system in Wisconsin, and other states combined with prosecutorial malpractice. Now let’s get to the point. Wisconsin has cash bail for all defendants, regardless of their case. Darrell Brooks has cash bail even after he killed six victims. It’s $5 million. But he won’t be able to reach that amount. He could, however, pay the bail amount if he were wealthy and be released from jail. Bail is based on your wealth. Better is to make it based on risk. An obviously high-risk criminal, such as Darrell Brooks may be locked up indefinitely without the possibility of being released on bail. To top it all, the prosecutors — you can see them now commenting that the bail was inadvertently low — is the most understated statement of the century. Let’s just say that it is a complicated situation. Omar mentioned that Darrell Brooks had a criminal history dating back to the 1990s. A registered sex offender, he is. He is arrested in 2020 for a firearms offense. He is then arrested two weeks ago for running over another person with his car. The bail has been increased to $500 from $1,000. This is absurd. It is impossible to explain.
BERMAN – First off, it has not been possible to implement meaningful bail reform in Wisconsin.
HONIG: Exactly.
BERMAN : This is not the case in any of the other states. Elie: What is the reason for bail reform?
HONIG The first is to make sure that the defendant comes to court again and does not flee. Second, to safeguard the community. This isn’t a Wisconsin feature. You can consider this in both the Federal system that I was raised as a prosecutor, and New Jersey’s after it changed. As a prosecutor, you can present this case to a judge and declare that Darrell Brooks is dangerous. A review of his criminal records, including the fact that Brooks has warrants for him, due to the fact that he attempted to run another person over nine days back, should lead you to believe that Brooks must be held accountable. Cash bail is not available. No matter how wealthy he is, it doesn’t really matter. He can’t, if he can’t, he needs to be locked up — no cash bail, period.
BERMAN – Most bail reform advocates, at least, I have encountered, argue that no bail should be granted to anyone who has been charged with violent offences. No matter what, you won’t be released. This is how bail reform works. You are advocating for the elimination or reduction of bail for non-violent offenders. This usually involves low-level drug offenses.
HONIG : It should. We changed from the cash bail system in Wisconsin to the New Jersey one that allows violent offenders, which I believe Darrell Brooks would be qualified for — to one that places them in jail and cannot pay the way out. However, the flip side is that there are countless non-violent, low-risk offenders locked up in jail because they are unable to post minimal bail. New Jersey’s entire prison population was subject to a study that revealed 12 percent were in jail, but not yet convicted and still waiting to go on trial. This is because they couldn’t pay $2,500 cash bail. Low-risk people shouldn’t wait in jail for their trial, and should instead be sent to prison. You shouldn’t have to be in prison waiting for your trial.
BERMAN – It works only if violent offenders don’t escape —
HONIG: Exactly.
BERMAN: — At All.
HONIG: Yes.
BERMAN: Elie, we are grateful
HONIG: Thanks, John.
BERMAN – Thank you for your support.
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