Giving Compass' Take:

• Two years in, New Jersey's bail reforms show promising improvements in the states crime data, confirming the efficacy of reforms that are needed across the country.  

• How can funders help to bring reforms to other states? Which reforms are most urgently needed in your community? 

• Learn more about ending mass incarceration in New Jersey. 

The new bail system, lest anyone forget, had its critics. In particular, the powerful bail bond industry spent years spewing forecasts of civic mayhem, arousing fear that revolving doors in our jails would trigger a crime spike that will surely turn New Jersey into a giant Detroit.

The pathological attempt to inflame half-wits hardly matters now. We can affirm that because we have pooled the wisdom of advocates, voters, a Republican governor and Democratic lawmakers, and transformed our state into a model of justice reform for the entire nation.

Since cash bail was almost entirely eliminated in January 2017, New Jersey's crime rates have plummeted across the board.

State Police statistics show that compared to 2016 data (January to September), homicides are down 32 percent in the same period for 2018. Rape (down 13), robbery (down 37), assault (down 18) and burglary (down 30) have also plunged. Overall, violent crime is down more than 30 percent.

That doesn't mean that the new bail system is directly responsible for crime reduction, but for it to happen at the same time courts have all but stopped setting cash bail - cutting our pretrial jail population drastically -- speaks to the overarching success of reform.

Read the full article about New Jersey's bail reform at NJ.com.