Albany must heed prosecutors and reform discovery laws to keep NYers safe

Albany, are you listening? Specifically, Carl Heastie, speaker of the Assembly, and Andrea Stewart-Cousins, majority leader of the Senate, the two leaders who proudly encourage more crime in our state. Will you finally stand up for the average New Yorker? In 2019, Albany legislators signed a series of justice “reforms” for criminals. Bail was outlawed in many cases, recidivists were allowed to steal again and again and again with no punishment, and onerous discovery rules were passed at the behest of defense attorneys. Gov.Andrew Cuomo signed these bills, and the utterly predictable happened — crime increased, particularly in New York City.

More outlaws went free.More cases were thrown out.

And rampant shoplifting means you have to get a clerk to unlock the toothpaste for you. Remember all this when Cuomo runs for mayor and tries to pretend it wasn’t his fault. On Friday, district attorneys from around the state — including from all the five boroughs — stood with Gov.Hochul to ask Albany to fix one part of this mess, the discovery portion. These rules go beyond ensuring the rights of suspects.

They are, instead, an easy “gotcha” for public defenders and a “get out of jail free” card for criminals. Let’s say two police officers arrest a mugger.The prosecution collects their bodycams and all their paperwork — but oh, says the defense, you forgot the cam of the third cop who came by 30 minutes later to put up police tape. Case dismissed. Yes, it gets that ridiculous. In one case of a subway slasher, the fact that just one visit to a doctor by the victim (which didn’t change the state of their injuries) wasn’t included in discovery caused the whole case to be thrown out.  Morning Report and Evening Update: Your source for today's top stories Please provide a valid email address.

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