Cashless Bail Reporting Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5625, the Cashless Bail Reporting Act. This bill directs the Attorney General to put together a public list of every State and local court that allows cashless bail.

While I think that this bill doesn't actually do very much, I hope that its passage will help to at least cut through some of the red tape, the partisan rhetoric, and the fear-mongering that we keep hearing about cashless bail, the system of bail that is used in our Federal courts and that this body actually has the jurisdiction over.

I want to reiterate over and over again that public safety is not a red or a blue issue. We need to stop making it that way. It is an American issue that affects everyone here.

We have to remember that the United States Constitution leaves it directly to the States. We talk all the time about States' rights. My colleagues across the aisle, Republican colleagues, talk about giving more responsibility to the States to make the decisions for their constituents. If we are talking about States' rights, the Constitution does leave it to the States to decide issues of public safety, including how the courts should operate.

States are grappling with these issues every single day. In my home State of Georgia, Republican politicians just reversed course on a whole slate of reforms that they ushered in by Republicans in the State legislature just a few years ago.

They didn't need Congress here. They didn't need our flip-flopping on that. They very well did it on their own.

Since this bill does nothing more than just tell the Attorney General to publish a list of information that already has been publicly made and available, I will support it. I just hope that the final product will be put to good use.

Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina.

Mr. MOORE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, this week is Police Week, and I think our law enforcement officers would agree that public safety should not be a partisan issue.

What we have seen around the country are leftist judges and DAs who are pushing policies that put criminals back on the streets and take tools away from law enforcement. One of the ways that happens is through cashless bail.

I was an attorney for 30 years, and I practiced all levels of court, including criminal practice. I have seen, particularly in certain areas in my home State and other areas around the country, where violent criminals are released on either very low bail or sometimes cashless bail.

As Mr. Harris pointed out, you had the tragic situation of Iryna Zarutska who was brutally murdered on the light rail in Charlotte. She would be alive today had that criminal been in jail. He had been released over and over and over again.

The Cashless Bail Reporting Act that we are debating today at least creates a list of jurisdictions that release individuals accused of serious offenses like murder, rape, and carjacking without requiring cash bail.

Now, I do think that the ranking member's assessment of bail--I would not disagree with the gentleman's assertion of how bail is set up. I would submit, and perhaps the gentleman would agree with me, that there are instances where the courts simply are getting it wrong. Someone with common sense should look and say: Why was this guy released on the street?

Look at the seriousness of the underlying crime, the criminal record. When you see someone who has been through the courts over and over again, and when the crimes get more serious every time, it starts off with maybe just stealing, then it goes to robbery, then it goes to assault, then it involves a weapon. Why in the world would that person be released on a cashless bail? Let alone, why would they not be held in jail awaiting trial?

Here is what happens. When you look at the statistics of the folks who commit crimes in my State and your State and other States, a lot of the crimes are committed by the same folks over and over again. The statistics are out there showing the folks who go out and commit crimes while they are awaiting trial on other charges. We have to rein this in, and we have seen situations around the country where that hasn't happened.

Look, I will tell you, in my home State of North Carolina, former Governor Roy Cooper actually released over 3,500 convicts, people who had already been convicted, he released them early from prison with lengthy criminal records, and the stats are showing of those folks released, most of them have reoffended since then.

The reality is there are some people who are dangerous. They are criminals. They are going to rob. They are going to murder. They are going to commit crimes, and they should be incarcerated. What this bill does at least, is this is going to shine a light--and I appreciate you doing this, Mr. Harris--this is going to shine a light on those jurisdictions where the judges are just letting these violent criminals back out again.

I hope a day will come when even folks who are on the left where some of this stuff is happening in these districts will realize it is not about left or right because when these criminals offend, they don't pick and choose who their victims are. They often terrorize those communities that can least afford to have that done to them.

So I appreciate this work, and we have other steps. There is a bill I am supporting that would actually create liability in the case of gross negligence when folks are released out on cashless bail.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this bill, and I hope we pass it.

Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

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