Rev. Al Sharpton is advocating for changes to New York State's 2019 discovery reforms, citing rising concerns about their application in domestic violence cases. The current rules mandate stringent timelines for prosecutors to disclose evidence, which many argue favor defense lawyers and increase case dismissals, evidenced by NYC's criminal-case dismissal rates rising from 41% to 62%. Governor Kathy Hochul and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch have echoed these concerns, highlighting the urgent need for reforms to prevent the release of criminals on technicalities and enhance public safety. However, several academics oppose such changes, citing potential negative impacts.
"We're continuing to see a real urgent problem of a revolving door of criminals who are arrested and then let out on technicalities, free to commit crimes again," said Gov. Kathy Hochul in January when she rallied with the five city DAs for reform.
The rules basically require prosecutors to hand over all evidence on an extremely strict clock - at penalty of seeing the whole case thrown out.
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