In an unusual move, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré held a press conference on Tuesday to address “recent decisions made within Superior Court regarding individuals charged with capital offenses and being released on bail.”

At issue: Two men charged with murder of were released on bail last month by Superior Court Judge Kristin Rodgers. The two men are on home confinement with electronic monitoring. For more on the specific of the charges, see here, here and here.

“The judge’s decision has already been made and there’s nothing to be done to change the decision that’s already been made,” said a visibly emotional Mayor Elorza to reporters, after emotional testimony from the family members of the victims. Elorza emphasized that he was not calling for harsher bail nor opposed to bail reform. “We’re talking about two cases where the judge… found the evidence was strong [and] the suspect was more than likely the person who did it – the murderer – and, over the strong objections of the Attorney General’s office, over the strong objections of our police department, the judge granted bail, to put a murderer out on the streets.”

Judges “have to understand it has an impact on our community when these young men get released so soon after committing a heinous crime and they’re back on the street,” said Commissioner Paré, “That sends a bad message to other people that are in our community… It’s a public safety issue for our community.”

Court spokesman Craig Berke defended the judge’s decision in the case, and pushed back against the idea that the defendants were “back out on the street.”

“These cases of violence are gut-wrenching. But the defendants are not “out on the streets,” despite what was said at the media event,” said Berke in a statement. “The purpose of bail is to ensure appearance at trial. These defendants are on home confinement with electronic monitoring. Law enforcement knows where they are, and if they violate the arrangement there will be consequences. The judge has protected the public by taking the defendants off the streets and protected the rights of the defendants pending trial, lest we forget the presumption of innocence that is central to our system of justice.”

What surprised Uprise RI about the statements of Mayor Elorza was his use of the term “murderer” without the modifier of “alleged.” Every defendant, even those denied bail on capital charges, are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law.

The Executive Board of the Rhode Island Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers had other issues with the press conference, characterizing the statements made by Elorza and Paré as “alarming” and “a direct attack on the United States Constitution.”

They write:

“The right against excessive bail is guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, section 8 of the Rhode Island Constitution. This does not mean that every accused defendant is guaranteed bail; rather, it means that if a judge is satisfied that an individual will appear in court, then they may grant bail in that case.

“On February 15, 2022, Mayor Elorza and Commissioner Pare made some alarming statements about a Superior Court justice’s recent decision to grant bail to two individuals accused of murder. Make no mistake: these statements were a direct attack on the United States Constitution. It is always tragic when a life is lost, but it is important not to let emotions cloud the role of the judicial system. Here, the media reports focused exclusively on the charge rather than the reasoning of the judge. Despite what the comments of the mayor and commissioner would lead one to believe, it is extremely uncommon for bail to be given to defendants accused of murder. There are several factors that judges take into consideration when determining whether or not to set bail, like the defendant’s ties to the community and – importantly here – the likelihood of conviction.

“Instead of decrying unfairness in the justice system based upon one or two specific cases, perhaps the mayor and commissioner could have requested a transcript of the hearing and examined what factors supported the judge’s conclusion that bail was appropriate in this case. Even a quick review of the proceedings reveals that the judge focused heavily on the lackluster investigation by the Providence Police Department – the quality of which should trouble the citizens of Providence and the rest of the state. It is axiomatic that executive leaders, especially those with a background in the law like Mayor Elorza, should refrain from attacking the Constitution, especially when they are acting on emotion and not fact. After all, courts operate on facts, not emotions.

“What is next? Should we even afford these defendants a trial? Are the mayor and commissioner upset that these defendants were entitled to lawyers under the Sixth Amendment? Are they upset that these defendants cannot be forced to incriminate themselves because of the Fifth Amendment? While this might be a step beyond what the mayor and commissioner have advocated recently, the underlying concept is the same: There are fundamental tenets to the criminal justice system that are outlined in the Constitution. A slippery slope is created when city officials direct an attack on any of the Constitution’s protections.

“The presumption of innocence applies to everyone, regardless of their charges. Let’s not forget that.“