WEST SENECA (WBEN) - On Monday, the Town of West Seneca passed a bail reform resolution to support the Justice for Rachael Act, which also has the backing of several local state lawmakers.
In November of 2018, Rachael Wierzbicki was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Shane Casado, but Casado was then released on bail shortly after the arrest, which of course created a wave of controversy.
The Justice for Rachael Act has been sponsored by State Assemblyman Pat Burke, and it would establish 'dangerousness hearings' where judges would have the discretion to decide whether to release someone on bail.
"There's one fix - that you would establish dangerousness hearings or risk assessments because people shouldn't be let out of jail solely because they have the money to get out," said Burke in an interview with WBEN on Tuesday morning. "If someone's dangerous to the community, that should be considered, and if folks where there is enough evidence that they are a danger to the community, they should be held pretrial."
Burke admitted that New York's cash bail system prior to the recent changes was inherently unfair. People, like Harvey Weinstein, could afford to post bail on major charges while others were being held for much lesser charges. However, he believes there still needs to be a way to hold people if there's a reasonable chance they pose a risk to the community.
"I think we have to consider people's behavior if they're habitual criminals whether to hold someone pretrial or not," he said.
Casado's trial is scheduled to begin later this month.