STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – So now the criminal justice system has been made completely backward.

It used to be that if you were arrested, you posted bail in order to ensure that you showed up for your court date. If you didn’t appear, you forfeited your bail money.

Very unfair to suspects. At least that’s what many New York state lawmakers think these days.

So now the city will offer suspects freebies like baseball tickets and cellphones as incentives to ensure that they come to court.

Never mind that the law demands that they return to court. Never mind the thought that if they skip the date, there should be some kind of punishment. That’s not how we do things in New York.

Is this a great place or what?

It’s part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s supervised release program, the New York Post reported, which is being funded to the tune of $12 million.

In addition to the baseball tickets and cellphones, those who run afoul of the law could be in line for movie tickets, gift cards to places like Applebee’s and Target, and passes to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. You could also get some free toiletries, socks, coffee and single-ride MetroCards.

Far from being rewards for breaking the law, some of the freebies are actually tools designed to make it easier for suspects to keep their court date. Because, for some, the legal necessity of returning to court, respecting the law, isn’t incentive enough.

Of course, there is one wrinkle that some might see as a significant drawback: The free baseball tickets are for Mets games, not Yankees games. The way the Mets played at times last season, being forced to watch them in person might qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. Heck, you probably wouldn’t be able to scalp the tickets for much either.

It all fits in nicely with the criminal justice reforms that are set to take effect on Jan. 1. Elimination of cash bail for a wide range of offenders. Allowing offenders to re-visit and photograph the scenes of their crimes, including private homes. The demand that prosecutors rush to trial.

The report on the city freebies came on the heels of a report that the state Office of Court Administration plans to release 900 inmates who retroactively fall under the new bail reform law before the law even takes effect. Because, sure, let’s get a head-start on making the city a little more lawless. Just in time for the holiday season.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was unaware of the early-release plan, which would be stunning given the fact that Cuomo appoints the head of OCA.

Doesn’t anybody see the potential peril this puts the city in?

Adding insult to insult, De Blasio on the radio on Friday seemed to say that there wasn’t all that much anti-NYPD animosity in the city. He said that “right wing” types here are pushing a false narrative that New Yorkers are being negative toward the police. De Blasio did allow that there are always “some” people who are anti-NYPD, the Post reported.

Yep, another vast right-wing conspiracy.

It makes you wonder: De Blasio did see the recent protest where cops were compared to the Ku Klux Klan, right? Where protestors carried signs saying “Punch that cop” and “F—k the police”?

He saw the NYPD radio car covered with eggs and trash on Halloween, right? He saw the cops that were doused with water and food in recent months?

De Blasio must live in a different New York than I do. In fact, I know he does.