On Monday, Gov. David Ige announced his intent to veto House Bill 1567, a modest bail reform bill that’s become the subject of misinformation and public outcry. Opponents of reform who’ve called for the veto have preyed on public fear over rising crime. These sensationalist narratives perpetuated by public officials and local news media are harmful and misleading and undermine fundamental constitutional principles of fairness.

Recent columns by Mayor Rick Blangiardi and the Star-Advertiser’s editorial board claiming the bill is “unsafe” and “overbroad” appear to have informed the governor’s decision to veto. The veto rationale that this bill “deprives judges of the ability to exercise discretion on a case-by-case basis” and would mandate the automatic release of defendants “that pose significant risks to public safety” is false.

In very plain terms, the statutory language of HB 1567 includes a broad list of exceptions that:

1) Encompass most of the crimes for which people are held pretrial and will likely have minimal impact on who is released; and

2) Clearly allows judges to retain discretion in setting bail if there is a risk of flight, recidivism, or a danger to any other person or the community.

Recent theatrics by county mayors and Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steven Alm claiming the bill will “erode the criminal justice system” ignores the Hawaii Judiciary’s support at every committee hearing this session. Platitudes calling for more input also dismiss work already done by the 2018 Hawaii Criminal Pretrial Task Force. Stakeholders in the task force, including the Office of the Attorney General, the Judiciary, Department of Public Safety, and public defenders, prosecutors and police chiefs from every county, made key recommendations in the final report that support broad reform.

Rhetoric around the functional purpose of bail ignores tools already at our disposal to ensure defendants appear in court, including Act 277, passed in 2019, that allows for unsecured bail, where defendants only pay if they don’t show up for their hearing. This option has not yet been used by judges or prosecutors. Instead, in 91% of cases, judges’ pretrial decisions mirror arbitrary bail amounts set by police arrest warrants.

Not only does our current pretrial system unfairly punish people who can’t afford bail (releasing those with money on their own recognizance), it locks up legally innocent people in overcrowded jails before they can defend themselves in court. The harmful narrative that bail reform equates a “win for criminals” and a “get out of jail free card” undermines a very basic tenet of our judicial system, that people are “innocent until proven guilty.” It also whitewashes economic and racial disparities embedded in our cash bail system.

Holding people in pretrial detention disproportionately punishes Native Hawaiians and people of color, preventing them from caring for their families and holding onto jobs, further perpetuating cycles of poverty and historical trauma. Research also shows that bail has little to no relationship to a person’s guilt or increases in crime or recidivism. In fact, in some jurisdictions, meaningful bail reform resulted in tangible outcomes that actually enhanced public safety and reduced jail populations.

The recent bail coalition statement released by over 30 organization across the state illustrates broad support for pretrial cash bail reform. Community groups from various sectors agree there is an urgent need to eliminate wealth-based detention and combat bias and systemic racism in our criminal legal system.

The very elected officials with the power to make necessary changes to our unjust criminal legal system should not mislead the public. They should enact and enforce laws that advance reform grounded in research, not rhetoric. Regardless of Ige’s decision to veto HB 1567, the urgent need for these reforms cannot be swept under the rug.

Ryan Leong is interim executive director of the ACLU of Hawaiʻi; Kim Moa is the group’s communications director.