Horowitz: NY man with 139 arrests: ‘The Democrats know me and the Republicans fear me’

One thing is clear: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his fellow Democrats have the criminal vote locked up.

“Bail reform, it’s lit!” yelled Charles Barry, 56, on Saturday as he was being escorted by New York cops to Manhattan Central Booking for his 139^th career arrest. “It’s the Democrats! The Democrats know me and the Republicans fear me. You can’t touch me! I can’t be stopped!”

Barry may be a criminal, but he’s not stupid and he’s not wrong. Indeed, they can’t touch him, which is why, according to court records, Barry had been arrested six times this year. It’s only six weeks into the new year, but Barry was released each and every time, which is why there is no deterrent against his serial subway crimes.

According to the New York Daily News, Barry has accrued six felonies, 87 misdemeanors, and 21 missed court hearings over his criminal career.

Barry was arrested for the latest subway crime when he was caught on Thursday jumping a turnstile. But according to police, he’s done a lot worse than circumvent the subway fare. He dresses up as an MTA worker and then robs unsuspecting transit riders as he pretends to help them purchase tickets.

“I’m famous! I take $200, $300 a day of your money, cr----r! You can’t stop me!” Barry told reporters, according to the Daily News. “It’s a great thing. It’s a beautiful thing. They punk’ed people out for bullsh-- crimes.”

Barry missed two court hearings since December, but that has not disqualified him from being released after subsequent arrests.

Much of the so-called criminal justice “reform” is being driven by the desire to save money on incarceration. But nobody in politics has bothered to quantify the cost to society of keeping thieves and robbers out on the streets undeterred. According to the NYPD, transit crimes are up 35 percent over this time a year ago.

Under New York’s new bail law, if the crime the offender is charged with at that moment is not one of the few that allows the judge to set bail, he must be released immediately, regardless of his prior record. Thus, criminals have an open invitation to continue committing their crimes over and over again. One of the mantras of criminal justice “reform” is the principle of offering “second chances.” The problem with legislation like this is that they are offering those chances to those who’ve already had many chances – in this case, 139.

This problem is not only endemic to New York. Washington state, another bastion of jailbreak policies, is notorious for low bail being offered even to repeat criminal offenders. Recently, a pair of bounty hunters joined KIRO radio in Seattle to discuss how criminals are laughing at the entire process because they are increasingly getting off easy.

“Right now, the requirements that they’re having for people to post bail is a lot, a lot less significant,” said Courtney Wimer from All City Bail Bonds in Tacoma and Everett. “Back when I first started, you couldn’t have 12 felonies and 37 warrants and still get released, and right now I see that on the daily.”

This is occurring all over the country. If it weren’t so dangerous and tragic for victims of crime, some of this would actually be funny. Sadly, it’s the criminals who are getting the last laugh.