The changes were implemented in January 2020, preventing cash bails for most misdemeanors and nonviolent offenses.
The man accused of setting fire to the large Christmas tree outside of the Fox News headquarters in New York’s Manhattan was released Wednesday night without bail due to criminal justice reforms implemented earlier this year. Craig Tamanaha,49, allegedly set on fire the 50-foot tree, which was adorned with 10,000 glass ornaments and 100,000 lights, in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The tree was located outside the midtown Manhattan building housing Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. About $500,000 in damages resulted from the blaze, according to the Post. Under bail reforms implemented in January 2020, Tamanaha was not eligible to be held on bail. The suspect, who was known to police, was charged with several misdemeanors, such as arson, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass. For a suspect to be held on bail, he would have had to commit at least third-degree felony arson. Under New York State law, arson becomes a felony only if the perpetrator commits a hate crime or tries to harm, or harms, another person, criminal defense lawyer Mark Bederow told Fox News.
