Take a wider view of the DA race
Manhattan: I was dismayed to see the op-ed by Sonia Ossorio and Gloria Steinem encouraging women to vote for Tali Farhadian Weinstein for Manhattan district attorney (“The DA candidate women should support,” June 9). Gender-based violence is certainly an issue, but it is extremely wrongheaded to believe that Weinstein is the only candidate capable of fixing that societal ill, especially with a former civil rights attorney on the ballot.
Tahanie Aboushi is the candidate all equity-minded New Yorkers should support, not only women. In writing the aforementioned piece, the authors made a presumption that all women rank gender-based violence as their top concern. Tahanie plans to include victims in every step of the process in deciding how and whether to prosecute a case, including cases involving gender-based violence. She also plans to decriminalize sex work, giving women more bodily autonomy without fear of prosecution.
Tali interviewed for a district judge nomination under the Trump presidency. This should be a red flag to women everywhere. Former President Trump, while never charged, has been under investigation for multiple instances of sexual abuse and lewd commentary.
Tali’s campaign is bankrolled by many Wall Street donors. It was extremely hard for the current DA’s office to prosecute Harvey Weinstein due to his ability to pay exorbitantly high bail fees and exert financial pressure on key players.
It is easy to connect the dots to believe that Weinstein would go easy on perpetrators of sexual and domestic violence if they are wealthy and a part of her circle.