Kelly Ayotte points to NH Bail Law

“I think that if you look around this room, you can see how important it is a problem, and how important it is that we fix this bail law to ensure that New Hampshire remains safe,” he said.

Ayotte also promoted the bipartisan support of Eight mayors Around the State on the subject, in addition to the support of the 10 Sheriffs of New Hampshire County.

“This is not a partisan problem,” he said. “This is a public security issue.”

Debate bets are high on both sides. Ayotte and their supporters on this issue argue that current laws allow them to be released to too many dangerous criminals. They indicate anecdotes of bail released who have committed other violent crimes.

“This is actually a problem that pursues me,” said representative Ross Berry, a Weare Republican and the main sponsor of HB 592. He said one of its previous components in Manchester was stabbed and killed A few years ago, for someone who had been granted bail.

The mayor of Manchester, Jay Ruais, said that 27 percent of arrests in the city in 2024 were people who were on bail at the time of their arrest.

But the proponents of the current law say Criminality rates in the state are going downAnd imprison too many people before trial creates bad results: people accused of low -level crimes could lose their jobs and custody of their children while waiting for the trial, and it is expensive that the prison to people, an expense transmitted by taxpayers.

The debate derives from the changes to New Hampshire’s law that began in 2018, when the State approved legislation that is now commonly known as a bail reform. He limited the ability to imprison people who could not pay the bond, while allowing anyone to consider a danger to the community that stops before the trial, regardless of the type of crime they are accused of committing.

But Ayotte argues that this has created a rotating door that allows violent criminals to get out of jail on bail, endanger the public and hinder the work of the application of the law.

She proposes to stop those who have committed a serious crime or a minor crime of class A while on bail, they did not present to the court or violate a condition of their bond. In the case of the most serious crimes, a judge would make the decision to free someone on bail, and would have the ability to hold hearings and consider evidence.

Ayotte also wants to reduce the detention test standard. She said that the current standard of “clear and convincing evidence” is too high, and must be reduced to a probable cause or reliable information that a reasonable person would believe.

New Hampshire aclu has criticized Ayotte’s efforts to change state bail laws.

“The police are not a judge and a jury, and they should not have the power to eliminate someone’s freedom. That power is left at the discretion of a judge, “said Amanda P. Azad, director of policies of the organization, in a statement.

“From the perspective of freedom, justice and due process, we are extremely alarmed by the inaccurate and deceptive statements of Governor Ayotte on the reform of the bond and its expressed desire to eliminate the freedom of thousands of state state statements that are presumed innocent in the eyes of the law,” he said.

The organization indicated an extreme case in 2016 where A black man died while he was in jail For a low -level marijuana possession position because I could not pay $ 100 per bail.

Ayotte insisted that his proposal will retain elements of the 2018 reforms to ensure that someone is not stopped only for financial reasons. And, he said, a judge would have to make a separate finding that an individual is dangerous.

“We are also protecting the rights of the accused in this bill, but we cannot give up the rights of victims and public rights to ensure that they can be safe in the state,” he said.

You can contact Amanda Gokee at [email protected]. Follow her @amanda_gokee.