Albany Needs to Listen to Prosecutors and Revamp Discovery Laws to Ensure New Yorkers’ Safety

Albany, are you paying attention?

Specifically, Carl Heastie, the Assembly speaker, and Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Senate majority leader—two individuals who seemingly promote an increase in crime within our state.

Will you finally advocate for the everyday New Yorker?

In 2019, Albany lawmakers enacted a series of so-called justice “reforms” that favored criminals.

Bail was eliminated in numerous situations, repeat offenders faced no consequences, and burdensome discovery rules were implemented at the request of defense lawyers.

Governor Andrew Cuomo approved these measures, and as expected, crime rates surged, particularly in New York City.

More criminals roamed free.

More cases were dismissed.

And rampant shoplifting has made it necessary for you to request a clerk to unlock even basic items like toothpaste.

Keep all of this in mind when Cuomo campaigns for mayor and tries to deny his responsibility.

On Friday, district attorneys from across the state—representing all five boroughs—joined Governor Hochul in urging Albany to address one significant issue in this debacle, the discovery rules.

These regulations extend beyond merely safeguarding the rights of defendants.

They represent a convenient “gotcha” mechanism for public defenders and essentially a “get out of jail free” card for offenders.

For example, suppose two police officers arrest a mugger.

The prosecution gathers the officers’ bodycam footage and all related documentation—but then the defense claims, “wait, you forgot the footage from the third officer who arrived 30 minutes later to set up police tape.”

Result? Case dismissed.

It honestly gets this absurd.

In one instance involving a subway attacker, the case was thrown out because the prosecution failed to include documentation of a single, inconsequential doctor visit by the victim, even though it had no impact on their injuries.

Before 2019, 42% of cases in New York City were dismissed.

By 2023, that number rose to 62%.

We believe the entire law should be scrapped.

Yet, Hochul and the district attorneys are merely requesting some reasonable reforms.

This includes ensuring that discoverable evidence is relevant to the case.

There should also be a deadline for the defense to raise objections.

And there should be court sanctions available, short of dismissing the entire case.

Up until now, Albany and Heastie in particular, have been obstinate in addressing the evident issues with the 2019 legislation.

No level of injustice seems to change their stance.

However, the overwhelming consensus from those tasked with enforcing the law should carry weight.

Believe it or not, even Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who started his tenure with a directive to minimize prosecutions, is now advocating for a change to the discovery laws.

When one of the nation’s most progressive DAs argues this is unfair to victims, doesn’t it warrant a response?

It’s time to set aside stubborn ideologies and take action for the betterment of all New Yorkers.