“Like many other cities, New York wants to reduce its jail population and repeated lock-ups of low-level offenders. The city’s latest attempt to address that goal centers around a bold idea that could be modeled nationwide: Do away with all jail sentences of less than a month.
“That’s the idea behind newSTART, a jail diversion program launched in New York last month. It keeps defendants who have committed low-level misdemeanors — things like petty larceny or possession of small amounts of illegal drugs — from entering jail. It would also apply to people convicted of thefts of service, such as jumping a subway turnstile or exiting a taxi without paying.”