Ocasio-Cortez has backed public defender Tiffany Caban. (Flickr)
May 22, 2019 By Laura Hanrahan
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed public defender Tiffany Cabán earlier today in the hotly contested race for Queens District Attorney.
“New Yorkers deserve a seat at the table, and a champion who will fight to realign our priorities towards equal treatment under the law,” said Ocasio-Cortez, later adding, “We deserve a district attorney that understands that to make our community safer we help people prosper. We deserve Tiffany Cabán.”
The Democratic primary, which will take place on June 25, has seven candidates vying for the nomination.
Ocasio-Cortez, who says she has been following the race closely, gave her endorsement to the candidate whose platform most resembles her own.
Cabán, 31, has pledged to bring progressive reforms to the DA’s office, including prosecuting abusive landlords and targeting drug companies that take advantage of working-class citizens.
Cabán’s platform has centered around rehabilitation rather than detention. She is in favor of closing Rikers Island, and does not support plans to build new borough-based jails.
“As a public defender, I’ve seen firsthand how our criminal justice system oppresses and marginalizes black and brown, low-income, immigrant and LGBTQIA+ communities,” Cabán said. “I’m running to decriminalize poverty, end mass incarceration, and keep people rooted in their communities with the services they need.”
The race comes just weeks after the death of longtime District Attorney Richard A. Brown, who died on May 4 from complications related to Parkinson’s disease.
Cabán is the only public defender to have entered the race for Queens DA, but is running against many well-known Queens players.
Her opponents include Queens Borough President Melinda Katz; former Deputy Chief in the Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit of the New York Attorney General’s office Jose Nieves; lawyer Betty Lugo; City Council Member Rory Lancman; former judge and senior prosecutor Greg Lasak; and former prosecutor Mina Malik.
Prior to Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement, Cabán had received the support of several other elected officials including State Senators Julia Salazar, Jessica Ramos, Luis Sepúlveda and Gustavo Rivera; City Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Brad Lander; and former New York Governor candidate Cynthia Nixon.
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The report reviewed elections that had been meticulously studied for voter fraud, and found incident rates between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent. Given this tiny incident rate for voter impersonation fraud, it is more likely, the report noted, that an American “will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls.”
Ok so where does she want to put the criminals if we close Rikers and don’t open community based jails. Perhaps this is an error, because I am a tad confused what she intends to do. We want to treat everyone fairly, but public safety must be maintained.
Why would you think the problems within the walls of Rikers today will not exist in a community-based jail tomorrow? No Community Board wants them in the boroughs either.
An imbecile endorsed another imbecile, not news. If the Democratic Party keeps working this hard Queens will go Republican in spite of the orange idiot in the White House. Remember, only citizens can vote. This primary I will be sure that none of my dead relatives and neighbors will vote in the primary. My dad has been consistently listed as having voted even though he died in 2015. When I pointed this out in the last election I was asked if I wanted to make an issue out of it. I responded that I thought I just did. Confused looks all around ensued. My wife’s parents also passed some time ago but still vote every year. Trump is a lowlife degenerate scumbag but he is correct voter fraud is rampant.
Do you have any reason to believe “voter fraud is rampant”?
All statistics ever say otherwise. Just wondering if there was any reason, at all, to believe that.
Yes, dead people signing the voter roll tends to make suspect fraud.
You should try looking at actually statistics and not just your emotions.
> incident rates between 0.0003 PERCENT AND 0.0025 PERCENT.
> it is more likely an American “WILL BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls.”
https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/debunking-voter-fraud-myth
Do you have any facts at all? Otherwise we can just dissmiss your speculation as completely false, obviously.
>voter fraud incident rates between 0.0003 PERCENT AND 0.0025 PERCENT
> it is more likely that an American “will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls.”
https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/debunking-voter-fraud-myth
Do you have a single fact at all?
Why NO mention that she wants to “decriminalize” sex work and favors legalization of prostitution. Because it’s “valid work.”
Why NO mention that she’s been working as a public defender in Manhattan for the past 7 years, not in Queens. Never supervised a large staff either, which is part of the DAs job.
Agreed, we should continue prosecuting men for a victimless crime.
Why does she need political experience? Our president doesn’t.
I don’t think any D.A. candidate NEEDS political experience. Nor is a disqualifier if you have that kind of public service experience.
To me, her resume is very thin compared to most of the other candidates. Queens deserves a more experienced person for this position.
It doesn’t matter if you have experience anymore
Yes it does. Ask Cynthia Nixon.
If the president has absolutely no experience at all, I think a DA doesn’t need any.
Unless you think Trump isn’t qualified for the position? Otherwise you’d be a giant hypocrite.
Awesome endorsement! Now we all need to go out and vote in the June primary AGAINST Caban and vote for whomever else is running.
MelindaKatz had never argued a case and represents the tired machine ,
A first-term congressperson with no legal experience is expected to endorse a candidate for prosecutor, and this is why politics makes no sense and the justice system is corrupt. It should be illegal for anyone in elected office to endorse a public prosecutor, and it should be illegal for anyone who has served as a DA or judge to stand for office within ten years of serving in that office. AND public defenders and prosecutors should picked at random from the same pool of lawyers.
why should she need more political experience than the president?
Not a fan of Trump, but at least he did have management experience, and as a public defender, Cabán doesn’t.
I agree, our president has no political experience at all, Cabán has lots of experience in her field.
Even with millions of dollars for free, Trump bankrupted all this companies. I guess that impresses you lol.
Wow, what a surprise AOC endorsed a Hispanic. This woman will not be looking to help me.
she has already says that she is only going to help the hispanic and illegals which is a disgrace –
What evidence is there to support this claim?
Oh hell no!
I have noticed that the majority of the white owned businesses are all for Lasak around here and they accuse us of identity politics. I doubt Tiffany will win but I am going to go with her.
So Hispanic endorsement of Hispanic is fine but when white people do it it’s wrong??? Nice double standard there.
Never said that! I just stated that this is the norm but if that is how you read it then so be it. Believe me there are plenty of Hispanics I would not vote for.
@Proud Puerto Rican…Did you ever stop to think that Lasak is actually qualified to do the job?..Perhaps I guess that being qualified doesn’t matter anymore!!!
What a surprise AOC 🙂 Identity politics?
So she’s in favor of closing Rikers but doesn’t support community-based jails. So no more arrests?
Oh I see it’s only identity politics when we do it not when the Blanquitos do it. Gotcha
Really? What do you think she meant by saying “New Yorkers deserve a seat at the table”?
I’m no Trumptard either.
Blanquitos?? Thanks for the racism.
Typical lib logic, it makes no sense.
I lost track…is “identity politics” what Trumptards call civil rights now?
No, identity politics is voting for or supporting candidates based on race, sexual orientation, gender and religious beliefs or lack there of. Nothing to do with civil rights.