Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., delivers ?Conversation on Urban Crime? address

Cyrus R. Vance Jr.Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., spoke at the Law School on February 7. His address was the third in a series titled “Conversation on Urban Crime,” sponsored by NYU Law’s Center on the Administration of Criminal Law. Rachel Barkow, Segal Family Professor of Regulatory Law and Policy, and faculty director of the center, introduced Vance.

In his address, Vance focused on the challenges he faces running a twenty-first-century prosecutor’s office. The Manhattan D.A.’s office, he noted, is unlike any other in the country. It handles about 100,000 new cases a year – more than the U.S. Department of Justice handles nationwide. And the threats have grown more complex and daunting, from terrorism to Ponzi schemes, some of which, Vance noted, “are the size of large corporations or small nations’ economies.” Computer crime, such as identity theft, has soared, he said, calling the Internet “the crime scene of the twenty-first century.” Vance also mentioned his creation of the Conviction Integrity Policy Advisory Panel, which grew out of “the realization that, while rare, individuals have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.” The panel reviews procedures and select cases to try to assure that errors are not made. Vance named Barkow a member of the panel in 2010.

Watch the full video of the event (54 min):

 

Posted February 14, 2012