Bragg’s memo was reported as a significant shift, part of a wave of headlines that have confused his attempts to smooth over the crisis for genuine policy change. Friday’s alterations are welcome, but they ultimately fail to address the concerns critics have been raising about Bragg’s policies since he took office.
—Charles Fain Lehman is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor at City Journal. Charles' comments are drawn from a larger op-ed available at City Journal now: "One Cheer for Alvin Bragg"
That Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has explicitly reversed two of the more controversial policies outlined in his now-infamous day one memo is an encouraging sign that crime trends may indeed limit the extent to which decarceration will be pursued through non-prosecution. However, it is important for New Yorkers to understand that the two provisions in question were two of the most radical set out in the memo, which included many other troubling policies. Bragg seems to still be committed to a broad non-prosecution policy as to a wide range of offenses that may, in many cases, be worth pursuing. He also seems to be sticking with a more limited approach to pretrial releases and post-conviction sentences, despite recent reforms in both of these areas. With index crimes rising nearly 40% in January of this year compared to the same period in 2021, New York remains in a precarious position on the public safety front. Getting back to pre-pandemic crime rates will likely require further moderation—from Bragg as well as the city council and state legislature. Today’s announcement gives us a glimmer of hope that a broader reorientation may not be entirely off the table.
—Rafael Mangual is a senior fellow and head of research for the Policing and Public Safety Initiative at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.