NYC Inmates Could Be Freed By Kennedy Charity: Report

NEW YORK — A charity led by the Kennedy family reportedly plans to bail hundreds of detainees out of New York City jails. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights could start paying bail for jailed women and 16- and 17-year-olds as early as Monday in a push for jail reform, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

The $5 million plan could free more than 200 women and fewer than 100 teens from lockups such as Rikers Island while they await trial, the Post reported. Anyone who's being held without bail or has been sentenced for a crime is not eligible, the story says.

The reported plans come amid Mayor Bill de Blasio's 10-year effort to shutter the infamous Rikers complex by drawing down the city's jail population.

A representative for RFK Human Rights did not immediately respond to an email seeking information about the initiative. But it would not be the charity's first foray into New York bail issues.

The group, led by Robert Kennedy's daughter Kerry Kennedy, supported a campaign that raised more than $100,000 last year to bail out more than 50 high-school-aged New Yorkers, according to its 2017 annual report.

It also posted the $100,000 bail for Pedro Hernandez, a 17-year-old who spent more than a year awaiting trial on Rikers.

But law-enforcement sources vented to the Post that the new program could take away alleged criminals' incentive to show up in court. It could also free some people charged with violent crimes such as attempted murder and aggravated sex abuse, the story says.

"If a high bail is set, that means the police and DA feel strongly that they committed the crime; that they will probably serve some kind of criminal sentence; and lastly they would be a flight risk," an unnamed "high-ranking police source" told the Post.

De Blasio's administration backed the idea, though a spokeswoman said City Hall hasn't seen details of the plan.

"The Mayor has long supported significant reforms to the current bail system. Bail is set by a judge and, once it is set, anyone can pay it," mayoral spokeswoman Natalie Grybauskas said in a statement. "We support any effort that focuses on bail assistance for low-level offenders who don’t pose a public safety risk."

Read the full New York Post story here.

(Lead image: Rikers Island is pictured in January 2018. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)