Legal news site touts Brooklyn DA’s office ‘cooler’ than Manhattan’s

September 12, 2018 By Paul Frangipane Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

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The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office is much “cooler” than its Manhattan counterpart based on its progressive policies, legal news site Above the Law touts.

The article, written by criminal defense attorney Toni Messina, cites Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s push last week to erase misdemeanor marijuana convictions and clear marijuana warrants and summons.

She goes further to consider Brooklyn a “less punishment-centered bureau” compared to Manhattan. Specifically, Gonzalez’s office is likely to include both felony and misdemeanor charges in the same indictment, while Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. typically does not include the lesser crime in indictments, leading a jury or judge to convict on the greater charge, according to Above the Law.

Messina also acknowledges the fact that Gonzalez started an in-house panel to review certain convictions of non-U.S. citizens in order to protect their immigration status, a policy she pressures onto Vance.