Thread by @georgejoseph94

SCOOP: Staten Island prosecutors are creating a police dishonesty blacklist—the list, once completed, will block certain officers from testifying in court due to credibility concerns:
gothamist.com/news/staten-is…

2/ This move would make Staten Island just the 2nd DA’s office in NYC to have such a formal blacklist. Last year Brooklyn prosecutors created their own list of 7 officers who they will not call to testify:
gothamist.com/news/exclusive…

3/ All city DAs have been building lists to track police dishonesty allegations + facilitate court disclosures about flagged officers. But those lists don’t stop officers from testifying. This blacklist would thus be a significant step:
gothamist.com/news/new-york-…

4/ Across the country, prosecutors like @DA_LarryKrasner in Philadelphia and @StLouisCityCA Kimberly Gardner have been developing similar police witness exclusion lists as a tool to preempt police perjury. More on that here:
gothamist.com/news/when-pros…

5/ Prosecutors argue they must create these lists to ensure the integrity of their cases, especially when dealing with departments where discipline for lying is not taken seriously.

6/ Police unions have pushed back on these efforts, raising due process concerns. They fear that officers’ careers could be permanently derailed without robust appeal mechanisms. This has sparked lawsuits in other jurisdictions:
philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/08/23/jud…

7/ The Staten Island Criminal Defenders Association has called for the public release of this witness exclusion list once its completed. The DA initially indicated it would fight release.