Sitting in arraignments in Manhattan, and good old Cy Vance’s office asked for $7,500 bail on a gravity knife bump up. Let me explain what that means...
A gravity knife is a simple pocket knife that opens with the flick of the wrist and locks into place. It can therefore be opened using only one hand.
Since the 70’s, this type of knife (as well as throwing stars, nunchucks and billy clubs (small bats)) have been pet se illegal to possess in New York State. In other words, merely possessing a gravity knife is a crime, regardless of use or intent.
Even though the New York Legislature voted overwhelmingly to repeal the per se prohibition on gravity knives, Manhattan District Attorney and the NYPD successfully convinced Governor Cuomo to veto the bill.
This despite extensive and excellent reporting, much by @j0ncampbell, showing that gravity knife arrests were overwhelmingly used upon construction workers and rarely were connected to any kind of violence or threat of violence.
These arrests and indefensible prosecutions were also, you guessed it, disproportionately on the backs of people of color.
As a NYC criminal defense attorney for over a decade, out of the dozens and dozens of gravity knife clients I had, I cannot recall a single one that was alleged to have used or threatened to use the gravity knife in an illegal or violent way. Mere possession.
So back to Cy Vance and gravity knife prosecutions in Manhattan, and what a “gravity knife bump up” is.
Vance’s office, unlike the other DA’s offices of NYC, chooses to use a provision of the law that allows his office to charge possession of a gravity knife by anyone with a criminal record with a felony.
This could of course mean someone with a manslaughter conviction. However, the underlying criminal record is much more often an old petit larceny or misdemeanor assault. But if Vance’s office can charge gravity knife possession as a felony, it will.
This practice shines a spotlight on the soul of Vance. His decision to not only prosecute mere possession of a gravity knife but to prosecute it as a felony, has gotten a great deal of attention lately. It is an affirmative decision on his part.
And here is the real kicker, the vast majority of clients who have been arrested for this “crime” have no idea that carrying a knife that opens with one hand is illegal. In fact, most New Yorkers don’t.
I actually received a gravity knife as a groomsmen gift a few years back. I had to inform the groom and all his men that we were, by merely having these items in our hands, a literal room full of criminals.
The Legislature got it right when they decided to repeal this law. Cuomo ignored reason and decency when he vetoed that bill.
But there is nothing forcing Cy Vance to continue his practice of charging gravity knife possessors, and charging them with felonies when the law allows. It serves no public good and ruins lives.
So fucking stop it. END
So fucking stop it. END
