Memphis’ district attorney will push bail reform despite critics blaming it for crime increases

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis’ new district attorney is pushing forward with bail reform to “level out the playing field” despite critics blaming progressive policies for increasing crime. 

“This will level the playing field so it’s no longer two justice systems,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told Fox News. “People that have money get bailed out; people that don’t have money languish behind bars,” 

Mulroy was sworn in on Aug. 31, making him the first Democrat to hold the position in decades. He campaigned on a progressive agenda, vowing to prioritize violent crime, fix the “broken bail system,” implement restorative justice and expand Juvenile Court jurisdiction to age 25, among other policies. 

“We need to move to a system where … the presumption is in favor of pretrial release” except in cases of “very serious violent crimes” or if there’s “specific credible evidence that that particular defendant is either a danger to the community or a risk of flight,” Mulroy said.

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Mulroy expects to have individualized hearings where judges set realistic bail amounts based on a defendant’s ability to pay.

“We have a system in this country — and it’s true here in our county — where you have lots of people who are locked up waiting for their day in court,” Mulroy told Fox News. “They haven’t been convicted of a crime.”

“They’re waiting for their trial months, years, sometimes, simply because they can’t afford cash bail,” he said.

About a quarter of people held in Shelby County wait 500 days before appearing in court, according to Mulroy. A “substantial number,” he said, are released without conviction.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy is the first…