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TIMESLEDGER, MAY 5, 2019 TIMESLEDGER.COM
Justice reform, campaign money top
District Attorney debate in Jackson Heights
BY MARK HALLUM
Candidates for Queens
District Attorney spoke on
justice reform issues which
are coming to define the
race at a forum in Jackson
Heights on April 29.
While some candidates
claimed there was no
conflict from contributions
accepted from PACs and
the real estate industry, all
pledged to not cooperate
with ICE in deportation
attempts and the effort to
close Rikers Island.
“Campaign finance
reform is overdue,”
Democratic candidate Jose
Nieves said. “Candidates
can self-impose campaign
finance reform … It
doesn’t mean just because
the money is there we have
to take it.”
Councilman Rory
Lancman argued that he
is fighting to end “the new
Jim Crow” affecting people
of color and that corporate
contributions would not
impact his mission.
“I am not bringing a
knife to this gunfight,”
Lancman said. “I accept
funding from all those
who are legally allowed
to contribute and we are
going to take our message
of reforming this criminal
justice system throughout
the borough and win
this race.”
Borough President
Melinda Katz’s claim that
her contributions from
real estate developers
would pose no conflict
was challenged by New
Vision Democratic Club
moderators with a special
question, to which she
claimed it had never been
an issue in her career.
“Any district attorney
should be able to show
they are independent no
matter where they get their
money,” Katz said. “My
history has cost developers
hundreds of millions of
dollars. I’m not sure how
many other people can
say that.”
Retired Judge Gregory
Lasak said he would take a
stance against deportation
Betty Lugo speaks before a crowd at the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights about her positions on issues in the race for Queens District Attorney.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
by hiring immigration
attorney’s in the DA’s office
and making an effort to
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents away
from courthouses on
account of the disruptions
they could cause.
“I don’t want them
interfering with the
administration of
justice in our county,”
Lasak said.
Tiffany Cabán criticized
the close Rikers plan as
simply an excuse to build
new jails whereas she
believes the only way to
de-carcerate is by ending
detention altogether.
“You can and should
close Rikers on a much
faster timeline than the
10-year proposal,” Cabán
said before clarifying
her stance. “In that
minuscule number of
cases where somebody has
to be removed from their
community for the safety
of themselves and others,
we will do it.”
Betty Lugo said
she plans to create a
community outreach
unit and a network with
faith-based organizations
to build programs to
act as alternatives
to incarceration.
“I believe the people of
the county are the best to
judge and to decide what’s
the best for how to deal with
a situation,” Lugo said. “It
takes a village, once you
involve the community
in what’s happening – the
more you’re involved –
the more you respect the
criminal justice system.”
The plan to close Rikers
by 2026 includes proposal
four borough-based jails,
including one which could
stand up to 26 stories at 1.2
million square feet in Kew
Gardens. While many, such
as Lasak and Lugo, are in
favor of updating Rikers,
others such as Lancman,
Katz and Nieves are in
favor of shuttering the
complex and rebuilding in
the boroughs.
Not present at the forum
was Mina Malik, a former
assistant district attorney
and a lecturer at Harvard’s
Fair Punishment Project.
The Democratic
primary for Queens
district attorney falls on
June 25.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by email at
mhallum@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4564.
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