Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #NYS
Most recents (16)
Short thread on those waiting or deciding on the COVID Vaccine. I got mine last night, 2:30 AM in #NYC at the @javitscenter. It took an hour from the time I arrived until the time I was vaccinated. It was a professional operation through and through. #CovidVaccine
Proud to see our military in the forefront of the operation, reserves from @USArmy and @usairforce answered the call to assist a professional civilian staff. The JNJ vaccine is the only one administered at night in the Javits center. #CovidVaccine
Getting an appointment in #NYS is purely a function of refreshing a website on a constant basis to look for openings. I had actually had an appt scheduled for later this month, and it would have been for the @pfizer vaccine, requiring a return visit. #CovidVaccine
‼️ ALERT ‼️ ICE is showing up at NYC protests: On Wednesday, this man was walking with protestors when 5 agents jumped out of a van with guns drawn & threw him to the ground, 1 wearing a POLICE/HSI (division of ICE) vest. This man is a US citizen of Puerto Rican descent.
Agents held him on the ground with 3 guns pointed at him, cuffed him, illegally searched him, tried to search his phone, accused him of having a gun. All they found was his military/veteran id. They held him for 10 minutes looking for something to justify their attack on him. 
ICE is engaged in violent policing & NY must protect noncitizens, incl. protestors who are being targeted & criminalized for dissent. 100s of people are arrested & charged at courthouses where we know ICE stakes out. NY must pass #ICEOutofCourts NOW! @bradhoylman @MichaelleSolage
In general, v impressed with actions, communication from #NYS and #NYC. Things are moving quickly. Hopefully there will be a change today. But I think #NYC is making a big mistake resisting canceling big public events like St Patrick's Day parade. I'm no expert. But the ...
2/ experts are speaking very clearly about this. Big public events, even outdoors, especially near a hotspot are a bad idea. There's peer-reviewed research specifically about parades as major vectors of contagion during epidemics like #COVID19.
3/ I know #NYC is balancing many critical equities. The options are all bad. But this seems like a big mistake with potentially grave consequences.
THREAD re: whether District Attorneys should be elected or appointed, responding to @JohnCun11960413, who asks in the context of #QueensDA election. #NYS is one of 46 states that elects its local state prosecutors (only NJ, Delaware, Connecticut, and RI don't). /1
Even more stark is that the United States appears to be the only country on earth where local #prosecutors are elected. /2
yalelawjournal.org/note/the-origi…
yalelawjournal.org/note/the-origi…
As John correctly points out, before the mid-19th century, NY prosecutors were appointed by the county courts. The reason we changed to elected in 1846 might seem paradoxical today: to get some of the ill-effects of politics out of the selection of District Attorneys. /3
At #QueensDA debate, @JoseNievesForDA says his conviction review unit would have an outside advisory board. Sort of like the program created in 2010 by @ManhattanDA.
.@RoryLancman says that he offered money in City Council to #QueensDA’s office for conviction review unit, and office refused. If that’s true, I agree - DA should have accepted and established the unit.
.@MinaMalikForDA distracted a bit from her impressive experience by saying that Ken Thompson started the @BrooklynDA conviction review unit, which isn’t quite right. Thompson greatly expanded the unit founded by Joe Hynes right after Cy Vance started the first one in #NYS.
Recent #NYS bail reform on agenda at #QueensDA race. @MelindaKatz says they’ll have “no cash bail.” Wow - even the legislation doesn’t go that far. No cash bail for, say, drug dealers who skip court & are undocumented & rob people. I don’t think she’ll be only one who says this.
@JoseNievesForDA says the same thing as Katz. I think they’re all imagining they’re in a world with fully-funded pre-trial services and readily available ankle monitors. The Legislature funded no such thing. Simply doesn’t exist on any kind of scale.
.@cabanforqueens: “Cash bail is wrong. Period.”
THREAD: This is some of rhetoric that has ruled the day in the discovery debate - both of the very thoughtful #prosecutors quoted in the article are worried about whether witnesses will be chilled from reporting crimes... /1
... and cooperating w law enforcement if their names will be provided w/in 15 days. Hard to believe that anyone would casually dismiss that concern - even the defense advocates didn’t dismiss the concern *casually*. Yet Mr. Stengel says that their comments are “chilling.” /2
Here’s the Chief ADA from Manhattan (the former boss of Mr. @stengellaw): “Will witnesses want to come forward in the first place?” she said. “We hope it doesn’t deter victims and witnesses from coming forward and reporting a crime.” (From @janransom’s article) /3
THREAD: Without the slightest sense of irony, advocates come together to try and squelch an advocacy group they don’t like: the #DistrictAttorneys Association of the State of N.Y. (DAASNY) /1
gothamgazette.com/state/8356-sta… via @GothamGazette
gothamgazette.com/state/8356-sta… via @GothamGazette
DAASNY President and @AlbanyCountyDA
@DavidSoaresNY: “There is an unfortunate misperception that DAASNY is opposed to reform. This is far from the truth.” /2
@DavidSoaresNY: “There is an unfortunate misperception that DAASNY is opposed to reform. This is far from the truth.” /2
Soares: “For decades DAASNY has been at the forefront of alternatives to incarceration programs. We supported legislation to allow the sealing of past criminal convictions and to help convicted offenders obtain a second chance.” /3
Here are my quick thoughts (thanks, @Mimirocah1 & others for asking): NY indictment charges 3 things (essentially): (1) mortgage fraud for counts on which Manafort was convicted, (2) falsifying business records of the banks, & (3) mortgage fraud for counts on which jury hung. /1
On #3, because the jury hung and the defense sought a mistrial, those charges are highly likely *not* to be subject to #NYS's expansive "transaction test" for double jeopardy. /2
On #1 and #2, question is whether the federal counts and NY counts have at least 1 different element (they do), AND whether they were "designed to prevent very different kinds of harm or evil." /3
Thread: Disingenuous comments by @assemblymanjoe about discovery reform, saying that #DistrictAttorneys "think they can stop it by pleading" w interest groups. He is well aware that DAs Assn. supports responsible discovery reform, just not in current form.
law.com/newyorklawjour…
law.com/newyorklawjour…
More responsible comment from Senator @jamaaltbailey: “We’re trying to make sure we’ve understood the concerns of every member & that they’re being considered. It’s something that we have to make sure we’re deliberative about, & get it right instead of just getting it done.” /2
Albany DA @DavidSoaresNY makes clear that DA's assn. supports reform, "[b]ut we have to do it being mindful of the concerns of victims, witnesses, and people who are indigent." /3
A blueprint for the systemic overhaul of #NYS fraud & #corruption laws mentioned below can be found in the final report of the NYS White Collar Crime Task Force, which I was privileged to Co-Chair. bit.ly/2B7hjsY
@toddkaminsky @SenGianaris @AndreaSCousins @LizKrueger
@toddkaminsky @SenGianaris @AndreaSCousins @LizKrueger
"The Task Force noticed the proliferation of crimes that it came to refer to as boutique laws. These statutes were aimed at narrow slivers of criminal conduct, and had often been heralded by supporters as important tools for prosecutors to use in combating white-collar crime."
NYS White Collar Crime Task Force on boutique laws: "A look at the data reveals that far from supplying the answer to the fraud problem, many of these tools are gathering dust."
bit.ly/2B7hjsY
bit.ly/2B7hjsY
Thread: Both the @NYTimesOpinion and now @NYDailyNews have now editorialized in favor of ending outside pay for #NYS legislators. At bottom, this is an #anticorruption tool.
nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edi…
nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edi…
Several #NYS #corruption cases over the last few years have involved outside payments alleged to have been corrupt. E.g. Convicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. /2
If legislators are allowed NO outside pay, there there can be no ambiguity about payments that might or might not be corrupt. /3
BREAKING (Thread): 1/ Nassau County District Attorney @madelinesingas, acting as a special prosecutor after @NYGovCuomo superseded @ManhattanDA, has decided not to charge former #NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
2/ Singas personally interviewed each woman who had made an allegation against Schneiderman, and ultimately exercised her discretion to decline prosecution. Said Singas: "[L]egal impediments, including statutes of limitations, preclude criminal prosecution."
3/ Possible charges had included misdemeanors of Assault in the Third Degree and Criminal Obstruction of Breathing or Blood Circulation, as well as the violation (not a crime) of Harassment.
Today's @NYDailyNews quip about judicial selection in #NYS: "In judicial races, it doesn’t matter whom you vote for; the party’s choices, many of whom are unqualified, will win. Bah, humbug."
nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edi…
nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edi…
I want to make clear that, in spite of my criticism of the way judges are picked, it is a fact that #NYS has produced many excellent trial and appellate judges. It's just that they get there *despite* the system rather than because of it.
That there are good judges is a good reason to discard the term "merit selection, which the DN used yesterday, in favor or "commission-based appointment." Why antagonize those good judges, who could help change the system. cc: @moderncourts
Short Thread: #NYS DA's Ass'n (DAASNY) 7 reasons why Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct is unconstitutional:
A. Interferes with prosecutor independence and DA core functions
B. Violates separation of powers
C. Expands powers of @NYCourtsCOA
D. Gives judges non-judicial duty
1/5
A. Interferes with prosecutor independence and DA core functions
B. Violates separation of powers
C. Expands powers of @NYCourtsCOA
D. Gives judges non-judicial duty
1/5
E. Intrudes on exclusive jurisdiction of Appellate Division in atty discipline cases
F. Fails to provide standards, so violates due process; singles out prosecutors, so violates equal protection
G. Operates outside permitted 20 state departments
2/5
F. Fails to provide standards, so violates due process; singles out prosecutors, so violates equal protection
G. Operates outside permitted 20 state departments
2/5
My #hottake on the NRA lawsuit: It’s Not What You Think
Despite breathless coverage from .@RollingStone, .@nypost and others, the NRA isn’t going bankrupt, although I’m sure it appreciates .@thegoodgodabove's and everyone’s #thoughtsandprayers.
Despite breathless coverage from .@RollingStone, .@nypost and others, the NRA isn’t going bankrupt, although I’m sure it appreciates .@thegoodgodabove's and everyone’s #thoughtsandprayers.
Neither are #NRA's expressed economic concerns related to the recent criminal indictment of #MariaBukhina for illegal flows of #Russian money to the #GOP via the #NRA.
