The top manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny was thrown out Friday, with the jury to return next week to debate a lesser alternative, negligent homicide.
The top manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny was thrown out Friday, with the jury to return next week to debate a lesser alternative, negligent homicide.
It’s an embarrassing defeat for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who never should have brought charges against former Marine Daniel Perry in the first place.
But it’s not the first time Bragg has failed his office. Indeed, since Day 1, the district attorney has been a walking disaster for the city.
He needs to go.
Consider: Violent crime is up and continues to rise, and his “Day 1” promises to “make us safer” by reducing enforcement and punishment have backfired spectacularly.
Look at the subways if you want an obvious cause-and-effect demonstration of the failure of Bragg’s policies.
He vowed to stop prosecuting fare beaters, essentially telling the cops to stop arresting them.
Since he took office, there have been 25 murders in the subways, following decades when the average was one or two a year.
Not everyone who jumps the turnstile is a serious criminal.
But you can bet that everyone who commits a serious crime in the subway beat the fare.
That’s why arresting fare beaters was such a successful strategy during the Broken Windows era of policing.
Criminals may be amoral but they aren’t stupid.
