Reforms to the bail system, evidence-sharing rules and speedy-trial requirements are at the top of the reform agenda—and will shape the city’s ‘close Rikers’ efforts as well.
Three months after a new policy to quell marijuana prosecutions by the Manhattan DA took effect, the DA’s office is touting its success but advocates are arguing that loopholes mean it has unequal impact across racial demographics.
From courtrooms to prisons, and from pot to parole, the four gubernatorial candidates stake out distinct positions on top criminal justice policy issues.
Inadequate salaries for public defenders and junior prosecutors lead to a system staffed by less skilled and experienced attorneys and potentially worse outcomes on both sides.
The Block Watcher program was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The program was revived in 2013 across several neighborhoods, including Bed-Stuy and Astoria, and then halted again in recent years.
While many Bronx politicians oppose the specific site the mayor has targeted for a new facility to partly replace Rikers Island, a vocal coalition of protesters is calling for an end to jails and policing as we know it.
Not so fast. With Raise the Age going into effect this week, the city’s 16- and 17-year-olds in custody are just moving from one jail to another.
… though not as much as they would have if there had been a primary race.
The lack of a real race in the 23rd deprived voters there, and elsewhere, a debate on some of the issues that arose after the 2014 killing of Eric Garner on one of the district’s sidewalks.
Cuomo has backed reforms to courtroom practices, policing and incarceration. Nixon has advocated for more aggressive changes.