Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Albany Times Union that Albany County District Attorney David Soares signed on to a letter with 14 other prosecutors from around the country March 7 to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York's legislative leaders asking for an end to cash bail, saying that "many people are jailed simply because they are too poor to purchase their freedom." Currently, legislators in Albany are considering expedited pre-trial discovery measures, and eliminating bail for all but high-level felonies and crimes of violence. "Simply ending the money bail system is not enough, though," the letter says, which was signed by district attorneys from New York, Texas, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California and Virginia. Soares is president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York but said he signed the letter as an individual prosecutor, and not as a representative of the organization. But Republicans in Albany are worried the proposal is being rushed through. "Right now, we are very concerned on a lot of different levels, not the least of which is that this is a rush to judgment," said state Senate Minority Leader John J. Flanagan. "There's no hearings. There's no detailed discussions." Read the full story in the Albany Times Union.