Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Ken Thompson

Ken Thompson

  • Brooklyn District Attorney Candidates Address Criminal Justice Reform at Forum

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    Brooklyn DA candidates at Thursday's forum (photo: @FaithinNewYork)


    The candidates for the Brooklyn District Attorney race gathered at St. Francis College in Brooklyn on Thursday for a forum hosted by criminal justice and civil rights advocacy groups, focusing on contentious issues revolving around criminal justice in the borough. Five candidates offered their takes to an audience of community advocates and Brooklynites concerned about mass incarceration, police abuse, bail, and other contentious issues.

    The candidates present were Acting DA Eric Gonzalez, City Council

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  • District Attorneys, City Council Agree Mayor is Underfunding DAs

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    The five District Attorneys at a March hearing (photo: William Alatriste)


    The district attorneys of the five boroughs reasserted their need for increased funding in the 2017 fiscal year at a City Council executive budget hearing Monday at City Hall. Council members—opting to forego heavy questioning of the necessity of this funding—framed fulfilling the district attorney requests as a crucial step towards criminal justice reform.

    The public safety committee hearing was the penultimate executive budget hearing, with

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  • 'Making A Murderer' Flaws All Around Us

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    photo via Making A Murderer on Twitter


    The Netflix documentary "Making A Murderer" challenges the moral core of our criminal justice system: that the police and prosecutors are objective and unbiased. The film follows Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who spent 18 years in prison for rape before being exonerated, then arrested for murder two years later, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison. The highly questionable police methods—a key piece of evidence miraculously appears; an improbable confession

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, November 30

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    After a quiet Thanksgiving weekend, New York politics springs back into action Monday. As the week gets going we're watching as discussions continue around the mayor's rezoning policies, which have been seeing some significant pushback from community and borough boards.

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  • Incoming DAs Plan to Join Thompson and Vance Warrant-Clearing Efforts

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    DA Vance with Commissioner Bratton, photo via @NYPDNews

     


     

    In an effort to reduce the city’s backlog of 1.3 million open arrest warrants for unanswered summonses for non-violent offenses such as being in a park after dark, having an open container of alcohol, and littering, city district attorneys are holding amnesty events,

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  • At 'Begin Again,' Signs of New Approach to Broken Justice System

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    DA Thompson, center, with Council Members Williams & Cumbo (@JumaaneWilliams)


    During Father's Day weekend, hundreds of individuals received the gift of a new beginning. The Brooklyn District Attorney's office held a 'Begin Again' event to lift open arrest warrants related to summonses for low-level offenses ranging from public intoxication, the most common violation, to being

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  • Are DAs Doing Enough to Overturn Wrongful Convictions?

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    Brooklyn DA Thompson, left, & Council Member Reynoso (photo: @BrooklynDA)


    What is the price of winning? For prosecutors in wrongful conviction cases, it can be a life.

    Last year, there were a record 131 exonerations nationwide according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Of those exonerated, six were serving time on death row.

    During that same time period, six new Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs) were established at district attorney offices across

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  • License to Carry: New York's Gun Permit Laws

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    Gov. Cuomo signs the SAFE Act, Jan. 2013 (photo: Governor's Office via flickr)


    Riders on a Brooklyn-bound 4 train fled in terror when a man responded to taunts from two younger men by pulling a gun and loading a clip. As the confrontation escalated and the train stopped, the melee spilled into the Borough Hall station, with threats and shoving until Gilbert Drogheo, one of the younger men, was lying dead of a

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  • Three 2015 District Attorney Races Set to Begin

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    Former SI DA Dan Donovan is sworn in to Congress (@dandonovan_ny)


    Voters can look forward to soon having a clearer picture of the potential contenders for the district attorney races on November’s ballot.

    Three of New York’s five district attorney positions will be voted on this fall — in Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx — and signature petitioning to get on the ballot begins the first week in June. Brooklyn’s District Attorney, Ken Thompson, and Manhattan’s District Attorney, Cyrus

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  • The New Yorker's Guide To The New City Government

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    Photo by Bill Alatriste/City Council

    NEW YORK — The historic overhaul of New York City government this year goes well beyond the mayor's office.

    There are 21 new members of the City Council, four new borough presidents, and fresh, yet familiar, faces in the offices of Brooklyn district attorney, comptroller, and public advocate. With the city’s politics taking an increasingly liberal turn, there are few outright conservatives left in city government.

    “Reapportionment and term limits combined to make the City

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