Crime and the constitution

To the editor:

It was encouraging reading in The Chief that gun violence is dropping in NYC. Unfortunately, Mayor Adams’ recent comments gave me pause. First, he gave a speech decrying the Constitutional separation of church and state, even linking crime and other social ills to a lack of faith. Then, upon announcing the drop in gun crimes, Adams chose to use the event as an opportunity to spew conservative talking points rather than express optimism that society may finally be turning the post-pandemic corner. 

Using a phrase popularized by Donald Trump, Adams told CBS “It's a catch, release and repeat system. Too many cases are being dismissed in the thousands that we need to focus on felony cases,” he said. He added “it’s more than just bail” (another false right wing talking point) and called for “reform,” suggesting that changes in discovery laws effected in 2020 also played a part.

If the mayor is accurately portraying the situation and “cases are being dismissed in the thousands,” then the fault lies not in the law, but in the investigations that take cases to court without sufficient evidence. Our laws, rooted in the Constitution, are designed to protect the citizenry from government abuses. Due process and the right to know why and what charges are being brought by the government is fundamental; discovery is the mechanism for granting that right. The way Adams tells it, nothing is his fault — the defense knows too much, judges release suspects too easily, it’s hard to rule a godless mob, etc.

Mr. Mayor, if you believe you are deserving of a second term I suggest you take responsibility, stop making excuses and elevate your police department’s game; those are the reforms needed.  As Shakespeare noted, “the fault lies not in our stars (or laws), but in ourselves.”

Joseph Cannisi