Bailing Out

The Leftists in charge of New York City are scouting the cuckoo's nest:

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said that legislators would pursue a $1.4 million citywide defendant bail fund... Mark-Viverito [called] it "morally unconscionable" that indigent defendants can spend costly and lengthy stints in jail before their day in court.

Basically, this blathering idiot is saying that taxpayers should pay bail for anyone who can't pay it themselves. She fails to acknowledge the reality (a favorite tactic on the left) that options already exist. Their relatives can scrape together the money, or they can take out a bail bond. Failing that, they get three squares and a bunk until their time in court arrives. Having taxpayers foot the bill for those who just committed crimes against their community may be the single dumbest idea to come out of the Left this year.

At least the people in the DA's office still have their heads on straight:

Jim Quinn, senior executive assistant district attorney in the Queens County district attorney's office, said at the hearing that bail provides a "financial stake" in court appearances. "If the city posts bail, and the defendant doesn't appear, he loses nothing," Quinn said.