State Senator Jesse Hamilton, yesterday, called Governor Cuomo‘s take-it-or-leave-it proposed legislation to reform how prosecutions are handled in cases where an unarmed person is killed as a result of a police action, a start but more needs to be done.
Under Cuomo’s proposal, delivered as a letter to all lawmakers in Albany, local district attorneys are given the benefit of the doubt and are not superseded until a reason exists that suggests bias or wrongdoing. However, the grand jury system would be reformed to increase transparency by mandating that in such cases there is public disclosure of the district attorneys instructions to the grand jury as to which charges they should consider.
“I believe the release of the charges is in the public interest and can be done in a way which does not jeopardize the secrecy of the grand jury process,” wrote Cuomo. “If no true bill is found by the grand jury and thus there is no indictment of a police officer but there are reasonable doubts as to the fairness of the proceeding, the Governor, in his or her discretion, could appoint an independent monitor who could then review the case and have access to all the evidence and grand jury material.”
The independent monitor would report back to the Governor as to whether the case was handled irregularly or if there was error or wrongdoing. After such report, the Governor – with the benefit of a substantive review – could make an informed decision to appoint a special prosecutor or not. If a special prosecutor was appointed, he or she could convene a second grand jury to re-present the evidence.
Cuomo also warned legislators that it is inarguable that something needs to be done, and needs to be done this year.
“To that end, in the event the legislature cannot arrive at a resolution on the matter, I will exercise the power that I have under existing law and, as pointed out by the Attorney General, appoint a standing full-time special prosecutor for any case in the state in which an unarmed person is killed as a result of police action. While I do not believe this would be the best outcome, I believe it would be better than the status quo,” he wrote.
Hamilton said Cuomo’s reforms represent an important starting point, but several other factors need to be brought to the discussion.
“Both the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus of the New York State Legislature and President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing bring important insights,” said Hamilton. “Insights like the need to broaden our perspective and include larger economic and social factors in these discussions – factors like education, employment, and expanding opportunities for success. Or factors like working to improve mental health provisions to prevent dangerous encounters between the police and the mentally ill.”
Hamilton said there also needs to be more focus on police-community confidence-building programs well in advance of problems emerging.
“Confidence-building can take many shapes, like the All Lives Matter, Criminal Justice Town Hall I co-hosted with community groups and elected colleagues. Confidence-building can also take the shape of the Criminal Justice Task Force I am working on with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. In the remaining time this session, I aim to voice the need for inclusion of these dimensions that must inform our response to these recent tragedies,” he said.
