For Brooklyn DA, Reform Means Breaking Old Habits (Law360)
Law360, May 19, 2019
For Brooklyn DA, Reform Means Breaking Old Habits (Law360)
“When Eric Gonzalez was elected Brooklyn district attorney in September 2017, the career prosecutor with Williamsburg roots knew that his peers in New York City’s most populous borough already considered themselves progressive…. “People were saying, ‘Well, why would we do more when we’re already doing so much more than other places?’” he told author Emily Bazelon last week during an event at the New York City Bar Association. “There was a concern that prosecutors share: Are we going to roll back too much? And then public safety would be jeopardized.” Titled “What Role Should Prosecutors Play in Ending the Mass Incarceration Crisis?,” the May 13 talk focused on how Gonzalez has overcome his office’s initial fears to promote measures such as wiping out more than 1,400 warrants for misdemeanor marijuana possession as well as ending his office’s practice of ordinarily opposing parole.”
