Don’t make a federal case out of gun possession; it harms Black and Latino New Yorkers

Assistant Federal Defender Ian Marcus Amelkin, in a Opinion published by the Daily News -

“Mayor Adams’ plan for curbing gun violence calls for the NYPD to bring more gun cases to federal prosecutors in order to take full advantage of stiffer penalties available in federal court. This approach would expand a Department of Justice initiative launched in the 1990s called “Project Triggerlock.” As President Biden prepares to meet with Mayor Adams, both men should remember the mistakes of the past: getting “tough” on crime through harsher sentences is a failed policy that must not be revisited.

“Gun violence is a serious and enduring problem, but transferring more gun cases to federal courts to is not the solution. Not only is it wrong to assume that longer sentences deter crime, but they will harm New Yorkers by undermining Biden’s efforts to “root out systematic racism in our criminal justice system.” Project Triggerlock has disproportionately punished poor people of color and undermines important New York constitutional and legal protections.”

Read full Opinion here.