13-03-2025
Ayotte takes aim at N.H. bail law
'I think if you look around this room, you can see how important of an issue this is, and how important it is that we fix this bail law to make sure that New Hampshire remains safe,' she said.
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Ayotte also touted bipartisan support from
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'This is not a partisan issue,' she said. 'This is an issue of public safety.'
The stakes of the debate are high on both sides. Ayotte and her supporters on this issue argue the current laws allow too many dangerous repeat-offenders out on bail. They point to anecdotes of people released on bail who have gone on to commit other violent crimes.
'This is actually an issue that haunts me,' said Representative Ross Berry, a Weare Republican and the prime sponsor of HB 592. He said one of his previous constituents in Manchester
was
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said that
But proponents of the current law say
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The debate stems from changes to New Hampshire law that began in 2018, when the state passed legislation now commonly referred to as bail reform. It limited the ability to incarcerate people who couldn't afford to pay bail, while allowing any person deemed a danger to the community to be detained ahead of trial, regardless of what kind of crime they were accused of committing.
But Ayotte argues this has created a revolving door allowing violent criminals to get out of jail on bail, endangering the public and making the job of law enforcement more difficult.
She proposes to detain those who have committed a felony or class A misdemeanor while on bail, failed to appear for court, or violated a condition of their bail. In the case of the most serious crimes, a judge would make the decision about releasing someone on bail, and they would have the ability to hold hearings and consider evidence.
Ayotte also wants to lower the standard of proof for detention. She said the current standard of 'clear and convincing evidence' is too high, and it should be lowered to probable cause, or trustworthy information that a reasonable person would believe.
The ACLU of New Hampshire has criticized Ayotte's efforts to change the state's bail laws.
'Police are not a judge and jury, and they should not have the power to take away someone's freedom. That power is left to a judge's discretion,' said Amanda P. Azad, the organization's policy director, in a
'From the perspective of freedom, justice, and due process, we are extremely alarmed by Governor Ayotte's inaccurate and misleading statements on bail reform and her expressed desire to take away the freedom of thousands of Granite Staters who are presumed innocent in the eyes of the law,' she said.
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The organization pointed to one extreme case in 2016 where
Ayotte insisted that her proposal will retain elements of the 2018 reforms to ensure someone is not detained only for financial reasons. And, she said, a judge would have to make a separate finding that an individual is dangerous.
'We're protecting the rights of the accused in this bill, as well, but we cannot forgo the rights of the victims and the rights of the public to make sure that they can be safe in the state,' she said.
Amanda Gokee can be reached at
