Probe the probers
Group pushes for panel vs. bad prosecutions
ALBANY — A coalition of more than 100 groups and individuals—including 16 who were wrongfully convicted —are urging Gov. Cuomo to sign a bill that would create a prosecutorial misconduct commission.
The state Legislature passed a bill earlier this year — over the objections of the state’s district attorneys but with strong bipartisan support — to create the commission. It was recently sent to Cuomo’s desk for consideration.
The coalition, known as It Could Happen To You, sent a letter to the governor asking he sign the bill.
“You have long spoken on the urgent need for comprehensive criminal justice reform in New York State,” the letter says. “Today, we urge you to seize this unique moment of broad bi-partisan agreement and sign legislation to establish a New York State Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.”
The coalition says New York in 2017 had the fourth highest number of exonorations in the country.
“Over the past five years the crisis has erupted like a volcano, with the uncovering of new wrongful convictions month after month,” the coalition wrote.
“However, there remains no viable process for holding accountable prosecutors who break the rules,” the letter says.
“The results have had a devastating human, social and fiscal impact.”
Creating a first-of-its-kind commission to oversee district attorneys and their underlings will “end the status quo and ensure that justice will prevail in those instances where conduct deprives the accused of all that is guaranteed by our state and federal constitutions.”
The commission would have oversight of the state’s 62 county district attorneys and their offices and could recommend anything from censure to removal if they find wrongdoing on the part of a prosecutor.
The coalition who signed on to the letter include those wrongly prosecuted, public defenders, and criminal justice reform organizations.
Among those wrongfully convicted who signed the letter are Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana, members of the Central Park Five who spent years in prison for the brutal 1990 rape and assault of a jogger before being exonerated.
Also signing was Martin Tankleff, who had been wrongly convicted of murdering his millionaire Long Island parents.
Among the groups on the letter are the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
Cuomo has until Aug. 20 to act on the bill