Mayor Bill de Blasio Prosecutes NYC Court System for Not Re-starting Trials Full Strength, Not Protecting the Public

 by Yehudit Garmaise

     Mayor Bill de Blasio put the New York City’s court system on trial this morning for failing to protect the public, when he pointed out that so far in 2021, the city’s court system has only completed only 18 trial verdicts, while in 2019, before the pandemic, the courts issued 405 trial verdicts.

     “We can’t have a safe city without a functioning court system,” the mayor insisted. “We need our criminal justice system fully operational to protect New Yorkers. Period.

     “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”

     “The absence of those consequences is undermining public safety,” said the mayor, who today, launched a new initiative to reopen the courts in New York City.  

     “If there are no trials, there are no consequences.”

     Not only are criminals who are not prosecuted embolden them and others to keep committing crimes, the mayor said, but families who have been the victims of violent crimes deserve justice.

     “So many people have been attacked and violated, and nothing has happened,” mayor said. “The NYPD see the impact, on the ground, of the lack of consequences.

     “When criminals know they are not going to see a courtroom for a long, long time, they are not going to be deterred.”

     In addition, Natasha Christopher, an activist and advocate whose son was tragically shot and killed on June 27, 2012, which was his 15th birthday, said, “I talk to mothers all the time who say to me, 'Someone murdered my son.

     “Why is it taking so long for us to see justice? We are waiting for some type of closure.'"

     Mrs. Christopher expressed the pain she, her family, and many other New Yorkers feel when no one is apprehended and prosecuted for killing their loved ones.

     While the court system is lagging behind, the mayor pointed out that the NYPD, the FDNY, schools, and businesses have all created protocols and mandates to carry on as soon as possible, and the court system needs to do the same.

     “It can’t go on like this,” said the mayor. “The court system has had a year and a half to figure it out,” the mayor said. “The attorneys and judges have concerns about COVID, and that is fine, they should address them, but the one thing that is not allowable is to not have trials and not have justice.”

     In addition to laying blame on the city’s court system, the mayor took aim at Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to whom had the mayor said City Hall had repeatedly offered the courts, “since long ago last year, whatever physical space, whatever support they need with vaccinations, whatever it may be, and we are still not getting a satisfactory outcome."

     The mayor said that he has not yet breached the issue with Gov. Kathy Hochul, with whom he has focused on fighting COVID, but he said he will soon talk to her about the courts.

 Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.