Suarez calls for end of ‘defund police,’ cash bail reform at national mayors conference
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez called on state governments to reverse cash bail reform during an address at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ winter meeting in Washington, D.C.
Suarez, president of the mayors group, has been floated as a potential candidate for higher office in some Republican circles. He has said he would consider a White House bid if the “mood of the country” was right. Some of his comments at this week’s meeting of mayors might hint at a developing platform.
His speech opening Wednesday’s session at the conference focused on “America’s potholes,” problems that he said ought to be tackled with the pragmatism of city mayors. He listed immigration reform, mounting national debt and public safety as key problems.
“Every person has the right to feel safe and be safe in public spaces and in their private homes. We must support our police and our law enforcement and fund our police,” Suarez said. “It’s time to put the failed ‘defund police’ movement to bed. It’s also time to end the no-cash-bail experiment. It has driven an explosion of lawlessness. It shutters critical businesses.”
Suarez touched on an issue that is largely driven by state legislatures. In 2016, New Jersey ended cash bail in most cases, but after a spike in violent crimes, lawmakers passed a law that allows bail to be withheld when someone is charged with serious gun offenses.
In 2018, California passed a law that would have ended cash bail, but the law’s implementation stalled after the bail bond industry got a referendum on the ballot in 2020. Voters rejected a system with no cash bail, and state lawmakers have struggled to get bail reform passed since.
Suarez, 45, also said creating equity in access to technology should be a national priority. The mayor has sought to brand Miami as a major tech industry hub that welcomes business people who want to leave states with higher taxes.
“The truth is technology, from web 3.0 and biotech to advance manufacturing and AI, holds the power to transform our economy, our politics and our lives,” Suarez said. “In the 21st century, American economy, every company will be a tech company.”
No crypto talk
Noticeably absent from Suarez’s remarks — any mention of cryptocurrency. When he was inaugurated as the president of the mayors group in 2022, he pledged to ask fellow mayors to sign a “mayoral crypto compact” that would promote the use of the digital currencies. In July, even as the values of Bitcoin and MiamiCoin crashed, Suarez still said he wanted to turn Miami into a crypto capital.
He didn’t back away from his stance in comments to The Washington Post in December, even after the meltdown of the crypto exchange company FTX.
“In my view, the fact MiamiCoin didn’t really work is not different than how FTX collapsed,” he told The Post. “These technologies are good ideas, but they don’t always work.”
Read more: Miami Heat’s FTX Arena no more: Judge strikes county deal with bankrupt crypto company
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 5:58 PM.
