LaBuda says new no-bail law is contrary to 8th Amendment to US Constitution

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MONTICELLO – The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the right to reasonable bail and to be protected from harsh and excessive punishments, retired Sullivan County Court Judge Frank LaBuda said Thursday.

The retired jurist said the new no-bail statute “promotes lawlessness.” LaBuda said, “A policy of catch and release may be good for promoting fish conservation, but does not promote effective law enforcement and provide for the safety of the community notwithstanding the presumption of innocence.”

Some state lawmakers have already called for modifications to the new law while others have said it should be repealed.

LaBuda said the legislature needs to do nothing; the issue is for judges and prosecutors.  “If they do not agree with the law, they have an opportunity to appeal it. Judges have an absolute duty, they take an oath in office, to apply the law under the Constitution,” he said. “Simply because the legislature passes a law doesn’t make it constitutional; it has to pass constitutional muster and that is done by judges.”

Judge Frank Labuda

LaBuda cited two recent cases that he said prove the new law to be bad.

Reynaldo Sanchez, who is awaiting trial as a major drug trafficker and faces life imprisonment if convicted, “was released on his own signature for $200,000 – if he doesn’t show up for trial. Yeah, good luck,” LaBuda said.

Sanchez has a prior felony conviction for criminal possession of a weapon for which he served five years in prison.

Another defendant, Kudion Tole, was charged with burglary. He has eight prior felony convictions and was released free on bail.

The judge said the law is “a tragic revolving door for police, corrections officers and public safety in now tracking down these defendants who have every incentive to flee and who become fugitives from justice, now that they have been released on free bail,” he said. “They ain’t going back willingly!”




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