The race for Queens District Attorney heats up
Lancman, Lasak pick
up key endorsements
BY BILL PARRY
In the expanding field
of candidates running to
replace Queens District
Attorney Richard Brown,
a week after he announced
he would not seek an eighth
term in office, two of the
front runners picked up
significant endorsements for
their campaigns.
City Councilman Rory
Lancman announced he
has the support of DC 1707,
AFSCME, the union that
represents 23,000 members
in the child-care, home
care, and social services
professions.
Throughout his career,
Lancman
h a s
stood in
solidarity
with the
men and
women of
the labor
movement, and as district
attorney he says he will
ensure that crimes against
working people are not
tolerated in Queens.
GREG LASAK AND RORY LANCMAN
“DC 1707 members endorse
Rory Lancman to be our next
Queens District Attorney
because of his lifelong
commitment to protecting
workers’ safety and promoting
their economic security,” DC
17-7 Executive Director Kim
Medina said. “We want a
fairer and more accountable
criminal justice system,
one that treats everyone
humanely and focuses its
resources on protecting
working people’s wages,
safety and homes. We know
Rory Lancman can deliver
on these issues as our next
Queens District Attorney.”
Lancman was the first
to announce his candidacy
for Queens district attorney
promising real criminal
justice reform and an
end to the New Jim Crow
that overpolices and mass
incarcerates communities of
color, and an end to ignoring
crimes against working
people, women, immigrants,
homeowners, and tenants.
“The men and women of
DC 17-7 who staff many of
our Head Start, daycare, and
social services programs are
crucial to the educational
and human services
infrastructure of New York
City, and as District Attorney
I will ensure that their rights
are protected and their
dignity is respected.”
Meanwhile, retired Judge
Greg Lasak has secured
the first law enforcement
endorsement in the race,
gaining the backing of the
New York State Court Officers
Association representing the
men and women who protect
the court systems across
New York.
“Our membership has
worked with Judge Lasak
for the better part of four
decades and
we’ve found
him to be a
prosecutor
and jurist
of immense
honor and
integrity,”
NYSCOA President Dennis
Quirk said. “But above all,
Judge Lasak is fair. He knows
what it means to protect the
rights of the accuser as well
as the accused. And he is the
only candidate in the race
for district attorney who
will be ready yo do the job
from day one.”
After graduating Queens
College and New York Law
School, Lasak became an
assistant district attorney
and rose to the ranks of chief
of the DA’s Homicide Bureau
and executive assistant for
Major Crimes. During his
time in the office, he reopened
wrongful conviction cases
that led to nearly two dozen
exonerations, eliciting praise
from The Innocence Project’s
Barry Scheck.
In 2003, Lasak was elected
to the Supreme Court of
Queens County and reelected
in 2017 before retiring
last September to run for
Brown’s office.
“I’m proud to have the
support of the men and
women of the New York State
Court Officers Association.
These professionals protect
the daily operations of the
justice department and for
that I am forever grateful,”
Lasak said.
Dozens of criminal justice reform advocates took to the steps of the Queens Criminal Court Monday
to demand change at the DA’s office. Courtesy of Andrea Bichan/VOCAL-NY
Reformers: It’s our turn
Grassroots groups launch DA accountability coalition
BY BILL PARRY
Dozens of justice reform
advocates spent much of
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
rallying on the steps in front
of the Queens Criminal Court
in Kew Gardens Monday.
Braving freezing
temperatures, a new coalition
of grassroots organizations
and advocates from across
the five boroughs announced
on Jan. 21 the launch the
Queens for DA Accountability
Coalition in order to fight for
de-carceration and radical
reform in Queens, now that
Queens District Attorney
Richard Brown has announced
he won’t seek re-election to an
eighth term in office.
“A new day is coming to
Queens and so is a new district
attorney. The importance of a
DA cannot be understated:
they have enormous authority
in every phase of a criminal
case, both here in Queens
and around the country.
They initiate investigations,
determine what charges to
file and decide whether to
offer a plea bargain,” Color
of Change Criminal Justice
Campaign Director Clarise
McCants said.
“Brown wants to keep
Rikers Island open, requests
absurdly high bail, and fails
to hold police accountable for
brutality. He comes from the
tough-on-crime era wherein
prosecutors and police exploit
racism and inequality to
extract guilt from innocent
people,” McCants added. “As
he departs, Color of Change
and our partners are coming
together as a community
to demand change, hold
prosecutors accountable and
root out the corruption in our
criminal justice system.”
Queens is the fourth-largest
county in the United States,
with the largest immigrant
population, and activists point
to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez’s shocking win in last
June’s Democratic Primary —
when she defeated incumbent
Joseph Crowley, the fourth
ranking Democrat in the
House of Representatives — as
a historic grassroots win to
build on.
“Queens deserves better. If
we love Queens for the beauty
of our diversity, food, culture,
histories, we must love and
protect survivors of domestic
abuse and sexual violence
too,” Survived and Punished
NY member Hafizah Omar
said. “We must ask more
of institutions that target
survivors in poor communities
of color and we must hold them
accountable. At Survived and
Punished NY. We organize to
free criminalized survivors
of gender-based violence,
from prison.”
“This work would not be
necessary if district attorneys
did not prosecute survivors in
the first place. The new Queens
DA has to be accountable
to survivors. Promises of
reform are not enough. We
demand accountability.”
Omar said. “We demand that
our future Queens DA commit
to declining to prosecute
survivors of domestic, sexual,
or gender-based violence
whose arrests were related to
acts of survival.”
Other demands called
for at the rally include
zero tolerance for police
misconduct, brutality,
corruption, perjury and other
criminal conduct. The want
reform of pre-trial practices
that drive mass incarceration
and implement an approach
to sentencing that recognizes
and seeks to eliminate
systematic oppressions and
prioritizes transformative
justice over penalizing
disciplinary action.
“Dick Brown is not trying
to get re-elected and we have
an opportunity to elect a DA
that will change the entire
office, but that’s not an easy
job,” VOCAL-NY Leader and
Queens resident Carl Stubbs
said. “You don’t change 30
years of corruption, lying
and punishment just like
that. No matter who wins
office, we’ll be out here every
day, protesting, demanding a
better DA who cares about our
community. This work is not
about an election, it’s about
getting all of Queens to fight
for our rights.”
TIMESLEDGER,4 JAN. 25-31, 2019 TIMESLEDGER.COM
/TIMESLEDGER.COM
