Human rights activists publicly scolded New York City’s district attorneys at a Tuesday rally in Lower Manhattan, blaming them for a slew of wrongful convictions made in the last half decade.
Members from a coalition of advocacy groups such as Families of Wrongfully Convicted and Vocal NY congregated in front of City Hall on Broadway and Murray Street to demand that incoming Mayor Eric Adams, along with Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and the members of the New York City Council, address the conviction review process.
“It is estimated that there are thousands of people in our prisons that are wrongfully convicted, maybe even more if they’re 2.5 million people in prison, 10% are to be wrongfully convicted. Our concern right now is the district attorneys in New York and the elected officials who have not stepped up. The district attorney Conviction Review Units have been abysmal. They promised a lot but they haven’t produced,” Lonnie Soury, co-founder of Families of Wrongfully Convicted said.