A few of our stories and columns are now in front of the paywall. We at The Chief-Leader remain committed to independent reporting on labor and civil service. It's been our mission since 1897. You can have a hand in ensuring that our reporting remains relevant in the decades to come. Consider supporting The Chief, which you can do for as little as $3.20 a month.
To the editor:
A plea bargain will have a 22-year-old Brooklyn man serving only 19 years on a manslaughter charge. A 28-year-old Bronx man plea bargained to attempted assault and received only 7 years for shooting dead an innocent bystander. A 20-year-old gang member plea bargained to a 15-years to life sentence for a Lower East Side murder.
Meanwhile, police officers who three years ago shot and critically wounded a teenager who was driving a car toward them have finally been cleared of wrongdoing. It took Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark that long to realize the cops weren't supposed to let the driver run them over.
But Grei Mendez, who ran a Bronx day care center where a toddler died after ingesting fentanyl, received a 45-year sentence. She deserved some punishment. But since she clearly didn't mean to kill anybody, why does she get a much harsher sentence than those who intentionally kill?
Meanwhile, New York City district attorneys are claiming they are being forced to release suspects because they claim they can't abide by the new discovery laws. So they claim they can't do their jobs unless they withhold evidence from defense attorneys until the day before the trial. But this makes it difficult to impossible for defense attorneys to do their job.
The discovery laws are not about being soft on criminals. They're about lawyers being able to defend clients who are innocent.
The 1976 words of Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy are still true today. We "live in a land where justice is a game."
Richard Warren
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here