Protesters rally against bail reform law at H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge

The state's new bail reform law was the topic of a rally Tuesday night in Hauppauge, as protesters expressed their concerns with the current state of the New York criminal justice system.
The rally at the H. Lee Dennison Building was organized by the Long Island/New York Metro Area Parents and Other Survivors of Murdered Victims Outreach, Inc., which was created by Barbara Connelly, whose son was killed in 1979.
She and her supporters are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers in Albany to reform the current bail reform law. She says that New York is going backward with justice and no one feels safe.
As News 12 has reported, a Bellport man was released without having to post bail Monday after being arraigned on a DWI charge in a crash on the William Floyd Parkway that killed 27-year-old Jonathan Flores-Maldonado. According to court records, 40-year-old Jordan Randolph was arrested and released in Suffolk County 11 days before the crash for allegedly driving without a court-ordered ignition interlock device.
Randolph also appeared before a Nassau County judge just two days before the crash on a March 2019 indictment, in which he allegedly drove without a license and failed to have an ignition interlock device on his car following multiple DWI convictions.
State Sen. Anna Kaplan, a Democrat from Great Neck, is proposing legislation that would give courts options and create pretrial services for those who may be suffering from mental illness and substance abuse. The bill would not change the law that requires no bail for crimes like the one Randolph was charged with.
Other state senators like state Sen. Jim Gaughran have introduced legislation to take some crimes off the "no bail" list. Any measure would need to be signed off with the Senate and Assembly majority, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who passed the bail reform law.