This past Saturday two things happened in NYC that are both completely unrelated and totally inextricable -- the death of longtime Queens DA Richard Brown and a big parade in support of marijuana legalization.
Richard Brown was the last of the old-school NYC District Attorneys -- a "tough-on-crime", "law-and-order", "lock 'em-up-and-throw-away-the-keys" type. He became Queens DA in a time of high crime and the drug war, when a DA couldn't be tough enough on crime. Brown loved locking people up, he wanted to put as many people in jail as possible. He carried this kind of prosecutorial policy well into the 21st century, into the era of low crime and a re-thinking of the drug war and how the criminal justice system should operate. His successor will be elected this year (the primary is in June) and whoever succeeds him will probably have more evolved, more rehabilitation type policies.
Needless to say, DAs like Brown hated, hated, hated any kind of drug, even da' reefer. And the drive to legalize marijuana in New York is exactly the kind of thing that stands in diametric opposition to what he believed and how he worked. Hopefully, at some point, the legislature will get it together and actually pass a legal weed bill (considering that so many other states have already done this). But legal weed is coming whether we (or folks like Brown) like it or not.
It's just another reminder that NYC is forever at a crossroads.
Richard Brown was the last of the old-school NYC District Attorneys -- a "tough-on-crime", "law-and-order", "lock 'em-up-and-throw-away-the-keys" type. He became Queens DA in a time of high crime and the drug war, when a DA couldn't be tough enough on crime. Brown loved locking people up, he wanted to put as many people in jail as possible. He carried this kind of prosecutorial policy well into the 21st century, into the era of low crime and a re-thinking of the drug war and how the criminal justice system should operate. His successor will be elected this year (the primary is in June) and whoever succeeds him will probably have more evolved, more rehabilitation type policies.
Needless to say, DAs like Brown hated, hated, hated any kind of drug, even da' reefer. And the drive to legalize marijuana in New York is exactly the kind of thing that stands in diametric opposition to what he believed and how he worked. Hopefully, at some point, the legislature will get it together and actually pass a legal weed bill (considering that so many other states have already done this). But legal weed is coming whether we (or folks like Brown) like it or not.
It's just another reminder that NYC is forever at a crossroads.
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