In New York, Attorney General as Special Prosecutor. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order appointing the state Attorney General’s Office as special prosecutor in certain cases. Lauren-Brooke Eisen. July 17, 2015. Following controversial grand jury decisions in the police killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New …
About the Attorney General. Letitia “Tish” James is the 67th Attorney General for the State of New York. With decades of work, she is an experienced attorney and public servant with a long record of accomplishments. She is the first woman of color to hold statewide office in New York and the first woman to be elected Attorney General.
Aug 03, 2021 · Aug 3 (Reuters) - For her five-month probe of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, state Attorney General Letitia James tapped a former top federal prosecutor at one of Manhattan's white-shoe law firms ...
Aug 03, 2021 · Aug. 3, 2021, at 5:06 p.m. New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, speaks next to independent investigators Joon H. Kim and Anne L. Clark during a news conference regarding a probe that...
Barbara Underwood (Acting) | 2018 |
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Eric Schneiderman | 2011 – 2018 |
Andrew M. Cuomo | 2007 – 2010 |
Eliot Spitzer | 1999 – 2006 |
Dennis Vacco | 1995 – 1998 |
District Attorney of New York County | |
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Incumbent Alvin Bragg since January 1, 2022 | |
Formation | 1801 |
First holder | Richard Riker |
Website | ManhattanDA.org |
The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New Netherlands. Democrat Letitia James currently serves as Attorney General, in office since January 1, 2019.
The Attorney General advises the executive branch of state government and defends actions and proceedings on behalf of the state. The Attorney General acts independently of the Governor of New York. The department's regulations are compiled in title 13 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR).
In 1693, the Attorney General earned a salary of 50 pounds.
Following controversial grand jury decisions in the police killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order last week appointing the New York State Attorney General’s Office as a special prosecutor in cases involving unarmed civilians killed by police officers. Under the executive order, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman can also review cases where it's unclear if a civilian was armed and dangerous at the time of death. The order will be in effect for one year.
The 2015 legislative session in Albany was marked by state legislators debating various ideas from requiring prosecutors to publicly disclose what charges they are asking grand juries to consider to compelling prosecutors to release the details of grand jury deliberations.
New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman proposed an increased role for judges to oversee the grand jury process in these types of cases. State legislators ultimately failed to reach an agreement about how to improve the grand jury process or whether to create a statewide independent prosecutor.
Because of the close working relationship between the county district attorneys and local police officers, Schneiderman had been lobbying Gov. Cuomo to give his office the power to independently investigate these cases.
New York State is currently the only state to have given its Attorney General the authority to supersede all district attorneys by executive when it comes to prosecuting cases where police kill unarmed civilians.
Wisconsin also passed a law in April of 2014 for mandatory outside reviews of police killings. While states have begun to debate structural changes to the way local prosecutors handle these types of cases, most of the legislation introduced in the wake of these high profile killings did not pass.
Some view Cuomo’s order as a gesture to the community that the criminal justice system in New York will take steps to hold police officers accountable. While a nod to communities of color, this is merely one step toward ensuring that our judicial and legal systems treat all Americans equally.
The District Attorney (or "D.A.") is the prosecuting attorney representing the state within their respective district. New York State has a D.A. for each of its 62 counties. A criminal case begins when the D.A. has either filed charges on their own or a grand jury has made the decision to indict a given suspect.
New York State has one District Attorney for each of its 62 counties, in addition to a D.A. for each of New York City's five boroughs. To learn more about your local prosecutor's office or to get in touch with their office, click on the corresponding link below.