“The easiest thing we do here is putting people in jail,” Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes told his new assistants, emphasizing the importance of the alternative sentencing programs and the effect they have had on Brooklyn neighborhoods by offering defendants rehabilitation rather than prison. “Red Hook used to be the fifth-most dangerous place in the country. Now it is one of the safest.”
Hynes attributed much of his office’s success to the use of innovative policies, such as sentence deferment, alternative to incarceration programs, and the practice of open file discovery.
Kings County Administrative Judge for Criminal Matters Barry Kamins and Brooklyn District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes congratulated the new prosecutors as they embark on their new legal careers. Hynes and Kamins know well how important the first years as a prosecutor can be, having both worked at the Brooklyn DA’s office together 40 years ago.
“Some of the best years of my legal practice were in the district attorney’s office,” Kamins told the Brooklyn Eagle in a recent interview for an upcoming profile on Kamins. “That’s where you really learn your craft. You learned what the elements of a crime were, how to draw up a complaint, how to present a case to the grand jury. That’s where I met District Attorney Joe Hynes, when he was head of the rackets division. You make lasting friendships.”
