Episode description

A man shit in a paper bag inside an idling subway car, strolled over to a seated woman on the platform and forcefully smeared the fresh excrement all over the woman's face and head.

37-yr-old Frank Abrokwa is currently awaiting court on a variety of charges including numerous assaults, harassment, theft and hate crimes. He spit on a Jewish man in Crown Heights, before threatening to kill him.

He also had over 40 prior arrests before he made headlines with the recent feces attack.

He's basically public enemy number one in New York City, but he's NOT in jail. A violent repeat-offender - in the past 30 days, he's assaulted multiple strangers without warning, smeared his own excrement in a woman's face, stolen weapons and told the judge at his court appearance, "Fck you, bitch" - is free today without paying a single dollar in bail, thanks to "bail reform" laws passed in the state legislature.

These laws eliminate pre-trial incarceration for all but a few major crimes, while also tying the hands of judges by removing judicial discretion in consideration of bail requirements. Under the law, judges cannot weigh a defendant's criminal history, including any and all recent arrests for violent offenses.

Intended to guarantee equitable treatment within the criminal justice system for people of color, bail reform laws have created a permissive environment in which criminals may remain constantly active. Men who would've previously been stuck in Rikers and other city jails now roam the streets from target to target, and attack with virtual impunity.

Adding fuel this trash fire, Manhattan prosecutors have been warned by new DA, Alvin Bragg, not to ask for jail or prison time in criminal cases they prosecute, barring only the most serious offenses such as 1st-degree murder or felonious domestic assault.

The current conditions in New York City are as close to lawlessness as the law will allow, emboldening the criminal element to rob or pointlessly attack anyone they see and then reoffend, sometimes immediately after being arrested, processed and released.

Lawmakers, the Manhattan DA and even feckless Mayor Eric Adams - whose token visit to Albany to petition members of the legislature to reconsider elements of the bail reform measures was a toothless and transparently political errand, designed to deflect all responbility for the safety of New Yorkers back to the capital - are in full agreement: "Equitable" treatment of violent criminals is far more important than the rights of victims, the safety of citizens and the need to maintain any semblance of order or civility in America's largest city.

Guest: Ian Erickson

*Guess who ranked HIGH on the list of New York podcasts? https://blog.feedspot.com/new_york_podcasts/