In 2013, I asked #ManhattanDA @CyVanceforDA at a forum to decline to prosecute non-violent protest arrests. He answered that he didn't have the authority.
That was a lie, of course. In fact, it was the same month he declined to prosecute Harvey Weinstein. #ByeCy #ResignVance 1/
That was a lie, of course. In fact, it was the same month he declined to prosecute Harvey Weinstein. #ByeCy #ResignVance 1/
But what wasn't a lie is that Cy Vance aggressively prosecuted 1A arrests at every opportunity for over a decade. He did the same w/ marijuana arrests, gravity knives, etc. Every BS charge NYPD uses to incarcerate Black and Brown NYers, Vance threw the book at people. #ByeCy 2/
But @CyVanceforDA did more than that. He routinely, as a matter of policy, withheld evidence from the defense until the day of trial. This forced Defense Attys to either go to trial unprepared, or send their clients back to Rikers w a continuance. #ByeCy 3/
And as head of NY's DA Assoc., Vance lobbied against every attempt to mitigate NY's system of reforms. He opposed speedy trial laws, open discovery laws, marijuana legalization, gravity knives, 50a repeal, and police accountability laws. #ByeCy 4/
It seemed the only time Vance's administration at #ManhattanDA didn't believe in incarceration as the answer to problems was when the defendant was rich, white, and a Vance donor. See Weinstein, Trump Jr., the crooks that embezzled St. Vincent's Hospital, Dr. Hadden, etc. 5/
Just 2 DAYS AGO, @CyVanceforDA called for, and got, indefinite pre-trial detention for protest arrests. So take today's conversion to declining to prosecute 1st Amendment arrests w the same salt as when he told me 7 years ago he couldn't do that. 6/
newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/06/03/new…
newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/06/03/new…
Cy Vance has been an atrocious #ManhattanDA from the standpoint of ending mass incarceration. He's also never prosecuted financial crimes - and this is Manhattan. Almost any major financial crime in America falls within Vance's jurisdiction. #ByeCy 7/
Most infuriating about Cy Vance's racist, classist tenure as #ManhattanDA is that #Manhattan doesn't agree w him. In 2021, Vance will face his 1st primary. Opponents incl. #CloseRikers champion @janosmarton & others. But that's too far off. The time has come to #ResignVance. /end
