WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 14, 2019 13
OBY MELINDA KATZ n March 2, Brooklyn District
Attorney Eric Gonzalez
took another step forward
in making our city more just and
equitable by strongly declaring his
support for reforming New York’s
outdated discovery laws.
Currently, prosecutors can deny
defendants access to important
evidence being used against them
until immediately before their
trials. This is not only unfair; it
stands completely at odds with
what should be the core mission of
a district attorney’s office.
I am proud to support DA
Gonzalez’s call for open-file
discovery for all New Yorkers,
and this will also be my practice
as Queens District Attorney.
Opponents like the District
Attorneys Association of the
State of New York (DAASNY)
cite concerns for the safety of
witnesses that provide testimony
to the prosecution.
While witness safety is always a
top priority for District Attorneys,
it does not have to happen at the
expense of judicial fairness to
defendants.
The Discovery for Justice Reform
Act, now under consideration in
Albany, would preserve protections
and rights for witnesses. And
while New York is embarrassingly
one among only four states (with
Louisiana, South Carolina, and
Wyoming) with such restrictive
discovery procedures, somehow
our country is not facing an
epidemic of discovery-enabled
witness tampering across the 46
other states.
Discovery reform has a higher
chance of enactment than ever
before in New York. The Discovery
for Justice Reform Act, sponsored
by Assemblymember Joe Lentol and
state Senator Jamaal Bailey, would
allow New York to modernize
and refine its criminal justice
procedures. The bill’s backers
include organizations like the
Innocence Project, Citizen Action,
and public defenders, who have
joined together to form the Repeal
the Blindfold Coalition.
While we hope Albany takes
the next vital step forward,
DA Gonzalez’s office already
voluntarily practices open-file
discovery for its cases, providing
evidence to defendants as it is
received. Like District Attorneys
across the country, his office
has not seen the kind of witness
LETTERS AND COMMENTS
BEWARE POTHEADS
ON THE ROADS
Governor Cuomo is promoting
two ideas that aren’t benefi cial for
most New Yorkers: the legalization of
recreational marijuana and congestion
pricing.
Both the American Automobile
Association (AAA) and the Daily News
recently reported that automobile
accidents increased in states that
legalized recreational marijuana.
A study by the Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety said that traffi c
accidents and insurance claims
increased 6 percent in those states
when compared to neighboring
states. The AAA and the New York
State Association of Police Unions are
opposed to legalization.
New York already has too many
drivers texting, ignoring stop signs
and going through traffi c lights. We
certainly don’t need potheads on the
road making matters even worse.
Cannabidiol (CBD) should be allowed
for medical reasons because it doesn’t
aff ect mood or behavior, but there is no
good reason to legalize marijuana for
recreational use.
Charging fees for cars entering
parts of Manhattan is economically
undemocratic; $11 per day is pocket
change for the wealthy, but it would
be a fi nancial burden for the poor,
meaning they would be excluded.
ABC News recently mentioned that
25 percent of people driving into
Manhattan are from out of state. It’s a
better idea to have congestion pricing
apply only to drivers who don’t live or
pay taxes in New York.
While these two proposals may
increase revenue, they won’t increase
our well-being or the common good.
Linda Imhauser, Whitestone
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OP-ED
Justice reform through
new discovery laws
tampering or other negative effects
that DAASNY and other opponents
claim would be the inevitable result
of these practices.
We need not fear fairness in the
courtroom. Providing immediate
access to evidence means that
both sides are on a level playing
field, which is fundamental to our
system of justice.
C onv e r s e l y, vi r t u a l l y
blindfolding defendants against
critical information means that
we are stacking the deck against
them before a trial even starts. Yet
our current laws allow prosecutors
to predetermine outcomes
without letting our court system
do its job, denying wrongfully
accused individuals the ability to
participate meaningfully in their
own defense, while actual criminals
remain free to continue victimizing
our communities.
Every DA’s core responsibility
is to achieve justice for their
community, and that means
justice on both sides of the case
– for both the victims and the
accused. We can achieve this,
with fairness to everyone, by
aggressively prosecuting those
who break our laws, while rejecting
unfair treatment and wrongful
convictions of defendants.
Open-file discovery’s success
in Brooklyn has shown us that it
can and should be done in Queens
and across our state. Let’s end the
practice of withholding evidence
from defendants, and let’s move
our criminal justice system into
alignment with the rest of our
nation.
Katz, who currently serves as
Queens borough president, is a
candidate for district attorney.
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