sing tao: Running for queens district attorney judge george grasso

Senior Judge George Grasso, who challenged the current Queens District Attorney Katz to run for election, accepted an exclusive interview with this newspaper.

"New York state politicians have taken the content of the judicial reform report out of context, causing no bond bail to become a city with a wave of crime in New York. As a prosecutor, they have not guaranteed the safety of citizens. This is the reason why I want to run against Katz." Senior Judge George Grasso said sincerely in an interview.

Grasso, 65, is a Queens Supreme Court criminal judge whose term runs until 2024, but decided to resign last August. "This is a tough decision because I love what I do, but public safety in New York City is being undermined by a lack of courage to stand up to misguided politicians, and I want to fix critical problems facing the criminal justice system (including bail reform) ...that's the main reason why I'm running for Queens District Attorney in the Democratic primary."

He said that the motives and original intentions of the judicial reform are good, and even the top New York Police Department criticizes the no-bail reform is correct. New York, however, has far more problems than bail laws. As a former judge and former NYPD First Deputy Chief, he understands the importance of all components of the criminal justice system working together to keep the city safe.

Grasso pointed to an ill-conceived criminal justice package signed by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2019 that threw the system into disarray and unleashed a wave of politically driven crime. While the stated goals of the reform package, such as reducing the number of pre-trial prisons, are sound, the process is fatally flawed. The committee solicited extensively from defense attorneys and political advocates, but ignored the perspective of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials.

He said that because of the lack of comprehensiveness, enforcement has been relaxed, the quality of life has declined, and crime rates on the streets and subways have soared. Repeat offenders continue to be arrested and released for repeated crimes. Crime was up nearly 30 percent across the city and more than 44 percent in Queens. It is not enough to rely on the presence of the police alone, and must cooperate with multiple channels.

In theory, he said, it was all designed to shut down Rikers. But the plan backfired. The bill, passed by city council, is based on an artificially low daily population of criminals of about 3,300. This number is based on budget, not data. The current population of nearly 6,000 shows no signs of shrinking anytime soon. If all the community prison facilities were available tomorrow, Rikers Island would still be needed to house about half the prison population.

Grasso said the 2019 reform package failed to allow judges to consider an individual's potential "dangerousness" when making bail decisions. In addition, judges cannot take into account the criminal history of defendants, their likelihood of appearing in court again, and the nature of the crime. During his tenure as a judge, a number of disturbing cases have arisen, some so confusing that the laws governing bail applicability have been interpreted differently by district attorneys, judges and defense attorneys. In his experience, it is these examples that lead to a loss of public confidence in the criminal justice system to protect them.

Based on his knowledge of the criminal justice system, the legislature actually expects judges to consider dangerousness, and bail-eligible crimes, such as homicide and rape, are overwhelmingly crimes that would show danger. This duplicity approach to statutory interpretation is at the root of all this confusion. Because the new law created serious challenges across the city. District attorneys, judges and defense attorneys often come to different conclusions about the need to produce records. In Queens, the implementation of the reforms was found to be illogical and disorganized. Prosecutors' random sharing of thousands of documents has made the system more difficult, not easier.

He said that the current Queens District Attorney, Katz, has undoubtedly spent her life in politics. She has successively served as a city councilor, state councilor, district governor, and prosecutor. They all chose different positions due to term limits. Everyone only saw her participating in the float in Flushing. Parade, instead of paying attention to the rapid rise of crimes in the 109th branch, she did not enter the life of the crowd, but found a way out for her important position.

Grasso, who had been with the New York City Police Department for 10 years when he became the judge, said that as a police officer under Commissioner Bill Bratton in the 1990s, he created an unprecedented level of public safety for New York City and created an unprecedented level of public safety. Become a national role model. So he knows what to do to bring New York City back to safety. District Attorneys must take on public safety responsibilities and work with the NYPD to re-establish fair and effective quality-of-life law enforcement.

Grasso, a Democrat, will challenge Melinda Katz in the June primary.

Written by Zhou Jingran, Sing Tao Daily

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