Manhattan DA: Young Defendants Hurt by Broken Prosecution System

NEW YORK — In a spirited and candid discussion Tuesday morning between elected officials and researchers at a conference on incarceration reform at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said that the business model of how his office operates “does not make sense” and that it fails young, minor offenders who pile up misdemeanors until they face serious consequences in the criminal justice system.

“I think in almost in every prosecution office I know of, at least state prosecutors, as a business model we don’t make sense, because we put our youngest assistants, and not the most resources on the largest number of cases we deal with,” he said.