Major Activist Group Hails Special Prosecutor Power For Schneiderman

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman -- new powers

In response to Governor Cuomo signing an executive order to authorize the Office of the Attorney General as a special prosecutor, the Justice Committee – the advocacy organization that worked with the families of New Yorkers killed by police who led the campaign for a special prosecutor – released the following statement from co-directors Yul-san Liem and Loyda Colon.

“The families of New Yorkers killed by police have been leading the push for the establishment of a special prosecutor in New York State for years.  Their tireless advocacy has led this movement in New York to this point. Their leadership and commitment is an inspiration to us all and what is sorely needed in our state and in this country. Governor Cuomo’s enactment of this executive order, which does not have a pre-determined time limit, is an important step in the right direction to ending the systemic conflict of interest that exists for local DAs in cases of police killings of civilians and addressing the crisis of police violence in our state and country. We must ensure that the implementation of the executive order ensures adequate resources for success and that legislation is passed to establish a permanent independent prosecutor for all cases of police killings and deaths in police custody.”