Queens hasn’t had a competitive election for Queens District Attorney since Richard Brown was elected in 1991. Brown was the Queens DA for 28 years. He was a relic of the tough-on-crime era that led to mass incarceration in Queens. "Historically, the Democratic Party has had enormous influence in choosing the city’s district attorneys. The races often attract little interest, and low voter turnout allows the favorites of the political machine to win, cementing long, unchallenged tenures. Nowhere has that been more true than in Queens, where the Democratic Party (Queens Machine) has picked the county’s district attorney for decades." With a Tough-on-Crime D.A. Stepping Down, Will Queens Turn to a Reformer?

Most progressive groups have now coalesced behind Tiffany L. Cabán for Queens District Attorney and the Queens Machine is backing Melinda Katz. As an assembly member Melinda Katz voted, not ones but, twice to reinstate the death penalty in New York. The most recent data from the National Registry of Exonerations points to two factors as the most overwhelmingly prevalent causes of wrongful convictions in death penalty cases: official misconduct and perjury or false accusation. "Under DA Richard Brown, the undisputed fact from our Appellate Courts is Queens is # 1 in prosecutorial misconduct," said John O’Hara, a civil rights attorney. Reinstating the death penalty and the prevalence of prosecutorial misconduct would be a deadly combination for Queens.

“If you believe that the purpose of the criminal justice system should be rehabilitation then believing in the death penalty is diametrically opposed to that notion and [it shows] you believe the extreme is ultimately the way to resolve issues, Everything is framed from that lens — people can’t be saved, they can’t be redeemed, it’s not about rehabilitation it’s about punishment. And that’s the problem with the criminal justice system now.” -  Finda Gbollie, Legal Aid attorney