Not since 1975 has anyone even considered removing the name on the door. Robert Morgenthau probably could have stayed in the big office until his last breath. That’s respect. But having fulfilled his obligation to serve the public, and with Leslie Crocker Snyder nipping at his heels, it was time to pass the baton. He chose Cy Vance, Jr. So have the people of Manhattan.
With 44% of the vote, as against 30% for Snyder and 26% for Richard Aborn, Cy won the Democratic primary yesterday. Since no Republican is running, that’s the ball game. Cy Vance will be the District Attorney, the first new one that most New Yorkers will know in their lifetime.
Cy brings much to the office. New ideas. Respect for the City’s demographic make-up, coupled with a recognition that something is fundamentally wrong when 90% of the people stopped and frisked are black or Latino, particularly when only 10% of those stopped and frisked were subsequently arrested. This doesn’t reflect a safety concern, unless one considers the safety of blacks and Latinos from the police.
Unlike others, Cy has seen life from both sides. He was a criminal defense lawyer as well as a prosecutor, a point raised by his opponent, former judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, whose judicial career was marked by her harsh sentences and even harsher rhetoric. That Leslie sought to smear him for doing his job as a defense lawyer tells much about her. That Cy understood, appreciated and served his clients as a defense lawyer tells much about him.
Basic to the mindset of every person who has stood beside an accused is an appreciation of the fact that our Constitution is something observed by the police and the courts primarily in the breach. We know if to be so, and are ever vigilant to be its last defenders. This can’t be explained to the line prosecutors, who are still too young and green to believe that the fine men and women of the NYPD aren’t always so fine, or always so honest. But when the boss suggests that they scrutinize their cases, their witnesses, their claims, for impropriety and unfairness, and that the overwhelming assumption will no longer be that the cops are always right, always truthful, there is hope that integrity will flow from the top down.
What I found most persuasive about Cy’s representation that he remembered the lessons learned in the trenches was his proud announcement of his support from the Innocence Project’s Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. Some DA candidates would conceal the endorsement of such people. Few would court it, or want it. No, it’s the PBA endorsement they seek, the backing of the cops, who in turn back those who back them. Business as usual.
Cy embraced the endorsement of Barry and Peter. That was the clincher. Even more surprising, Cy welcomed my endorsement, as if it would make a big difference in the vote. Given what I do for a living, most DA candidates would flee the praise of a criminal defense lawyer. Cy didn’t. When he said he was going to be DA for all the people of New York County, he meant it. I was honored that he cared.
The margin of victory in a three person race, 14%, is huge. It reflects the desire of the people of Manhattan to have a District Attorney who can not only be trusted to prosecute, but to know when not to prosecute. It shows that respect for the Constitution, the rights of defendants and supervision of a huge police department that cannot be trusted to honor the Constitution on its own is alive in Manhattan. New York County rejected the simplistic tough on crime rhetoric of the Leslie Crocker Snyders for the smart on crime and respect for human beings approach of Cy Vance.
In her congratulatory twit last night, Dr. Sun Wolf wrote:
With 44% of the vote, as against 30% for Snyder and 26% for Richard Aborn, Cy won the Democratic primary yesterday. Since no Republican is running, that’s the ball game. Cy Vance will be the District Attorney, the first new one that most New Yorkers will know in their lifetime.
Cy brings much to the office. New ideas. Respect for the City’s demographic make-up, coupled with a recognition that something is fundamentally wrong when 90% of the people stopped and frisked are black or Latino, particularly when only 10% of those stopped and frisked were subsequently arrested. This doesn’t reflect a safety concern, unless one considers the safety of blacks and Latinos from the police.
Unlike others, Cy has seen life from both sides. He was a criminal defense lawyer as well as a prosecutor, a point raised by his opponent, former judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, whose judicial career was marked by her harsh sentences and even harsher rhetoric. That Leslie sought to smear him for doing his job as a defense lawyer tells much about her. That Cy understood, appreciated and served his clients as a defense lawyer tells much about him.
Basic to the mindset of every person who has stood beside an accused is an appreciation of the fact that our Constitution is something observed by the police and the courts primarily in the breach. We know if to be so, and are ever vigilant to be its last defenders. This can’t be explained to the line prosecutors, who are still too young and green to believe that the fine men and women of the NYPD aren’t always so fine, or always so honest. But when the boss suggests that they scrutinize their cases, their witnesses, their claims, for impropriety and unfairness, and that the overwhelming assumption will no longer be that the cops are always right, always truthful, there is hope that integrity will flow from the top down.
What I found most persuasive about Cy’s representation that he remembered the lessons learned in the trenches was his proud announcement of his support from the Innocence Project’s Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. Some DA candidates would conceal the endorsement of such people. Few would court it, or want it. No, it’s the PBA endorsement they seek, the backing of the cops, who in turn back those who back them. Business as usual.
Cy embraced the endorsement of Barry and Peter. That was the clincher. Even more surprising, Cy welcomed my endorsement, as if it would make a big difference in the vote. Given what I do for a living, most DA candidates would flee the praise of a criminal defense lawyer. Cy didn’t. When he said he was going to be DA for all the people of New York County, he meant it. I was honored that he cared.
The margin of victory in a three person race, 14%, is huge. It reflects the desire of the people of Manhattan to have a District Attorney who can not only be trusted to prosecute, but to know when not to prosecute. It shows that respect for the Constitution, the rights of defendants and supervision of a huge police department that cannot be trusted to honor the Constitution on its own is alive in Manhattan. New York County rejected the simplistic tough on crime rhetoric of the Leslie Crocker Snyders for the smart on crime and respect for human beings approach of Cy Vance.
In her congratulatory twit last night, Dr. Sun Wolf wrote:
@CyVanceforDA Congratulations! Do justice, love mercy, walk quietly with your god.Amen. Congratulations, District Attorney Vance.
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Amen.
This is picayune and somewhat annoying of me, but, 2nd paragraph, ‘know’ not ‘no’. Trivial mistakes are, tautologously, trivial, but the people who might disagree with your excellent post might adversely comment. I, perhaps paradoxically, will beat them to the punch, while at the same time applauding your voice. Thanks for fighting this fight.
I always appreciate someone pointing out a typo so that I can correct it. Thanks.