Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced on Friday that he won't seek reelection. | Mary Altaffer/AP Photo
A campaign pushing to focus the race for Manhattan district attorney on justice for sex crimes survivors is recommending three candidates in the upcoming Democratic primary.
Marissa Hoechstetter launched the group Reform the Sex Crimes Unit after speaking out about being assaulted by OB-GYN Robert Hadden — who was accused of the same by multiple women, but let off with no prison time by DA Cy Vance, prompting widespread criticism.
Vance formally announced on Friday that he won’t seek reelection. His office also at first declined to pursue charges against Harvey Weinstein, whose crimes became a prime catalyst for the #MeToo movement.
The group aimed to replace Vance with a successor focused on revamping sex crimes prosecutions. Eight Democrats are now vying for the open seat.
In a report, first reviewed by POLITICO, Reform the Sex Crimes Unit rates the candidates and finds that Tali Farhadian Weinstein, the former general counsel to the Brooklyn DA; former federal prosecutor Alvin Bragg and former Manhattan assistant DA Diana Florence are the top three picks.
The group sent each candidate a questionnaire asking how they would staff the sex crimes unit, how they would help victims overcome barriers to reporting assaults, what legislative changes they would push for, what data about sex crimes they would report publicly and how they would avoid conflicts of interest from campaign donors.
“The 2021 DA election is an opportunity to bring new leadership to an office that regularly fails survivors of sexual violence,” the group says in its report. “Survivors frequently share their experiences of being dissuaded, disbelieved, or discarded by [Vance's] office for not having enough evidence, for not being the ‘perfect victim,’ or for not wanting to put themselves at greater risk. It is time for this to end.”
An anonymous panel of about 20 sexual assault survivors, advocates and attorneys helped evaluate the candidates’ responses.
“Several of these candidates put forward really strong plans, which make me feel like they could restore faith in that office,” Hoechstetter said.
The group lauded plans from Farhadian Weinstein to launch a bureau of gender-based violence and from Bragg to overhaul the sex crimes unit. It also backed Florence’s legislative agenda as well as her pledge to publicly disclose outcomes of all cases and whether lawyers involved have given campaign donations.
Many of the candidates in the race are running to the left, vowing to reduce incarceration, seek lesser sentences and stop prosecuting certain offenses. But those priorities can clash with securing justice for victims of rape and sexual assault, Hoechstetter said.
“Sex crimes present a challenge for progressive prosecutors, because they want to make promises that are not punitive,” she said. “Some of the commitments feel really extreme, and not realistic.”
The group gave a middle ground, cautionary rating to three candidates: former ADA Lucy Lang, Assembly member Dan Quart, and civil rights attorney Tahanie Aboushi.
The lowest rating of 'not recommended' went to criminal defense lawyer Liz Crotty and public defender Eliza Orlins. They said Crotty, the most moderate Democrat in the field, lacked substantive plans, while Orlins went too far in the direction of reducing prosecutions for all defendants, such as by pledging to always seek the minimum prison sentence.
Reform the SCU noted that many of the candidates cite a need for restorative justice — an approach that emphasizes bringing perpetrators and victims together to devise a resolution.
“Most of the panel agreed that restorative justice should be part of a range of options offered victims but find it unimaginable in violent crimes like rape and sexual assault of minors or in cases by serial offenders,” their report says. “There was also a concern that victims not feel pressured to seek such resolutions by an office desperate to reduce carceral punishments.”
Hoechstetter said she stopped short of offering an outright endorsement because voters would want to weigh multiple sets of issues in making their picks, but she thinks their stances on sex crimes have received too little attention in the race.
Candidates have emphasized the excessive criminalization of Black and Latino New Yorkers, which Hoechstetter agrees is a problem.
“It’s those same communities who are often not helped enough when it comes to sexual violence,” she said. “I felt really that that’s missing from the conversation about the Manhattan DA.”
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, or you know someone who is, help is available. In the U.S., call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.
"crime" - Google News
March 15, 2021 at 07:07AM
https://ift.tt/3qWAJYd
Sex crime accountability group names three top candidates for Manhattan DA - Politico
"crime" - Google News
https://ift.tt/37MG37k
https://ift.tt/2VTi5Ee
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Sex crime accountability group names three top candidates for Manhattan DA - Politico"
Post a Comment