Nassau has been releasing many inmates since Nov. 1, officials say
Bobby Brown, left, of Long Beach, and Robert Ferrara, of Massapequa, leave the Nassau County Correctional Facility in East Meadow on Tuesday. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Nassau County released about 30 inmates from its jail Tuesday because of a new state bail reform law, but a county official and a union leader say the law has prompted the release of many more inmates since Nov. 1.
News cameras stood outside the front gate of the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow on Tuesday as inmates were released. But Brian Sullivan, president of the Nassau County Sheriff's Correction Officers Benevolent Association, said the facility had been releasing an unusually high number of inmates, and receiving an inordinately low number of new inmates, over the past two months.
Consequently, Sullivan said he believed that was a result of the new bail reform law, which takes effect Wednesday. Sullivan, a lieutenant at the facility who has worked there for 31 years, said he suspected the gradual release of inmates was done to temper public concern.
"This was done to mitigate a mass exodus today, so it didn't look like the whole world was coming to an end," Sullivan said. "That would probably have caused an eruption in the county."
The state law eliminates cash bail for defendants facing misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. The law was passed in April by the Democratic-controlled State Legislature, and advocates say it will prevent people from being held in jail just because they can't afford to pay for bail. Opponents, including the Nassau corrections union, say the law will release dangerous people and drug dealers into the community.
In October, Nassau County officials estimated that about 300 inmates were eligible for release under the new law, based on the jail population count at the time of 1,100. That estimate was reduced two weeks ago to 175 inmates as the jail population dropped to 986. As of Monday morning, the jail population was down to 884 inmates.
Sullivan said the fluctuation in the prison population was unusual, saying that it has hovered at 1,100 for many years.
A Nassau County official familiar with the jail operations also said Tuesday that there has been an inordinately high number of inmates leaving the facility, and far fewer admissions, over the past two months. He said he believed judges and prosecutors had been making an effort to get ahead of the new law.
Daniel Bagnuola, a spokesman for the Nassau County courts, said Tuesday that he did not have any information regarding the assertion that there had been a concerted effort to release inmates ahead of the law.
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas' spokesman, Brendan Brosh, offered a written statement. “We’re complying with the law,” he said.
Assemb. Doug Smith (R-Holbrook) said Tuesday he also believed many inmates had been released because prosectors did not want to create a backlog of cases when the new law went into effect.
Smith joined other members of the Long Island Republican delegation Tuesday calling for the bail reform law to be amended. They want to grant judges the discretion to hold a person in jail if the judge believes the person is a danger to the community.
The release of the inmates has created concern among some Nassau residents, and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder held a news conference Dec. 17 to announce increased patrols for the announced release of inmates on Tuesday.
Oludare Adefuye, 36, was among the inmates released Tuesday. He said he had been charged with selling cocaine, couldn't afford the $50,000 bail, and had been held in the jail for 21 days.
Adefuye, of Hempstead, said he hoped his release would help him make a new start for the new year. "I don't want to be in the position I am now," he said, adding that he is addicted to cocaine. "It only ruins your opportunities."
He was met at the front gate of the correctional facility by a woman who took him to a drug crisis center.
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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