TO THE EDITOR:

Unquestionably, it is scandalous to hold suspects in jail pending trial simply because they are too poor to make bail and Chief Judge Lippman is to be commended for addressing the issue in his final months in office (NYT Oct.3, Page 22).

However, the solution to the problem does not require new laws or even a new policy. It merely calls for judges to better use their existing discretion to release defendants on their own recognizance when it is clear that they are not a flight risk.

Judges are already provided with data in each case documenting a defendant's community ties, thus enabling the court  to assess the likelihood that he will return for trial.

As a criminal court judge in Manhattan I frequently released defendants pre-trial without bail, even over the objection of prosecutors, when it was clear, as in many if not most cases, that requiring cash bail or a bond was not warranted. My willingness to utilize parole was rooted, perhaps, in the lessons learned from my participation as a law student in 1961 in the Manhattan Bail Project conducted by the newly-formed Vera Foundation, which demonstrated that accused persons with ties to their community were more likely to return to court then those released on bail.

Judges can, and should, be making far greater use of their existing authority to release defendants pre-trial. It is the humane and sensible thing to do and will ensure that poor persons accused of minor crimes do not languish in jail awaiting trial.

Gerald Harris