New York City mayor and failed presidential candidate Bill de Blasio has a new plan to entice convicts to show up for their court hearings: Give them free Mets tickets.
De Blasio’s plan comes as reports surfaced that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was quietly releasing 900 city inmates prior to a new bail-reform law’s taking effect.
The communist mayor, in our view, decided it would be a solid idea to lure the criminals back to court post-release by offering tickets to baseball games and movies — and give them gift cards.
“You’re literally rewarding them for committing a crime,” a senior staffer in Manhattan Criminal Court told The New York Post.
Both @NYGovCuomo & @NYCMayor are releasing 900 inmates for the holiday.
Inmates have been charged with crimes like negligent HOMICIDE & aggravated ASSAULT on a CHILD.
They will also be providing FREE baseball tickets if they return for their court dates.https://t.co/qQOmczPgFW
— Breanna (@morrbreanna) November 4, 2019
It’s obvious that the governor and the mayor have taken the next logical step in catering to their fan base: criminals.
Related: De Blasio Drops Out of 2020 Race
It’s no longer enough to woo illegal immigrants, it seems to us — instead, they need people who have graduated to bigger crimes.
Of the over 400 offenses committed by the inmates whoa re being showered with gifts, The Post reports, some include “criminally negligent homicide, aggravated assault on a child under 11 and selling drugs on or near school grounds.”
Because what people facing years behind bars for homicide wouldn’t come back to court when they have the chance to catch the matinee viewing of “Frozen 2”?
The idea has been widely panned, but de Blasio is actually defending his “gifts for cons” program.
“In a world where we want speedier trials and we want the justice system to work, if small incentives are part of what actually makes it work, then that’s a smart policy,” insisted de Blasio.
SMART POLICY? Bill de Blasio is defending giving prison inmates released under the city’s new cashless bail program free Mets tickets and other gifts for showing up in court. The incoming and outgoing NYPD commissioners aren’t sold. More here: https://t.co/LBQEd3jZ0U
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) November 7, 2019
Last summer, Cuomo pardoned seven illegal immigrants who were under threat of deportation in an effort to thwart President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal activity.
He also granted conditional pardons to well over 70 sex offenders.
These were predators, the New York Daily News reported, who had been “deemed too dangerous to be returned to the community after their release from prison.”
Keep in mind that pandering to convicts comes with another goal.
An executive order signed by Cuomo last April gives felons the right to vote after their release — hence the desire to release them early.
“The right to vote is fundamental and it is unconscionable to deny that basic right of citizenship to New Yorkers who have paid their debt to society,” Cuomo said at the time.
Now, they’re literally paying them in the hopes they’ll do the right thing and stand trial.
A statement released by the New York City Police Benevolent Association (NYC PBA) after de Blasio’s failed presidential run seems relevant in light of this latest move by the mayor.
“He has squandered his credibility and lost the confidence of even his former supporters,” the statement reads.
“He needs to either step aside or be removed to make way for a mayor who actually wants the job.”
Perhaps when he’s out of office he can go check out a Mets game with his new best friends.
This piece originally appeared in The Political Insider and is used by permission.
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