CONCORD, N.H. - The ACLU of New Hampshire today released the below statement following the New Hampshire House of Representatives’ passage of HB 592, in a 204-175 vote, which would severely roll back New Hampshire’s reformed bail system and jail thousands of Granite Staters who are presumed innocent in the eyes of the law. The bill now goes back to a House finance committee.
Amanda Azad, Policy Director at the ACLU of New Hampshire, said:
“Make no mistake: this anti-liberty and anti-due process bill will harm Granite Staters. The courts should have the power to determine our freedom - not police or politicians.
“Our current bail laws are a major bipartisan achievement that center civil liberties at the core of how our state treats people who are accused of a crime. Why are politicians trying to take away our freedom if someone is not dangerous and still presumed innocent?
“Anti-liberty bills like this, especially ones that disregard facts and instead rely on misleading and inaccurate rhetoric, go against the core values of what it means to be a Granite Stater.”
The facts on bail reform:
- New Hampshire’s current law allows anyone dangerous to be held without bail. Whether police or prosecutors make that case is up to them.
- For years, law enforcement across the state have testified at the State House that New Hampshire’s bail reform laws were to blame for not holding people deemed dangerous: but what they do not talk about is that police and prosecutors are able to make a case for anyone dangerous to be held without bail thanks to the bail reform changes in 2018. Instead of using this system properly, they claim they must do away with the system entirely so that they may instead hold any Granite Stater behind bars by using mere probable cause - easily making bail unattainable or unaffordable. In many of the fearful anecdotes shared, neither law enforcement nor prosecutors ever even asked the judge to hold someone without bail.
- Violent crime has dropped dramatically since bail reform was implemented in 2018.
- Bail reform has prevented people from being needlessly detained, all while crime has gone down. According to the NH Department of Safety, crime and arrests are down substantially since bail reform efforts began in 2018 and continue to drop as shown in the data publicly available on their crime statistics website. New Hampshire’s crime rate has decreased across the board with violent crimes dropping remarkably between the years 2017 to 2024, according to the NH Department of Safety’s own data. The Granite State is consistently ranked one of the safest states in the country - a fact touted by Governor Ayotte frequently.
- Bail reform has prevented people from being needlessly detained, all while crime has gone down. According to the NH Department of Safety, crime and arrests are down substantially since bail reform efforts began in 2018 and continue to drop as shown in the data publicly available on their crime statistics website. New Hampshire’s crime rate has decreased across the board with violent crimes dropping remarkably between the years 2017 to 2024, according to the NH Department of Safety’s own data. The Granite State is consistently ranked one of the safest states in the country - a fact touted by Governor Ayotte frequently.
- Rolling back bail reform would harm New Hampshire’s communities of color and deepen disparities within the state’s criminal legal system.
- Black Granite Staters are 3.33 times more likely to be arrested overall in New Hampshire, according to 2023 numbers. Because they are disproportionately arrested, they will also be disproportionately incarcerated under this proposed system.