’Prosecutors have an obligation to uphold the Constitution’: Manhattan D.A. candidate Lucy Lang pledges not to prosecute abortion cases
A Manhattan DA candidate is pledging not to prosecute abortion cases should Roe v. Wade be overturned by what could soon become a more conservative Supreme Court.
Lucy Lang, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney who headed John Jay College’s Institute for Innovation in Prosecution, issued the pledge Tuesday, along with five district attorneys from other cities.
By Jane Wester
September 29, 2020
Originally published in NY Daily News
“As elected prosecutors and candidates for district attorney across the nation, we pledge not to prosecute women or their healthcare providers under existing or future criminal statutes that violate the protections of Roe v. Wade,” they wrote in the pledge, which is posted on Medium.
“Prosecutors, like all public servants, have an obligation to uphold the Constitution," they added. "But unlike some other public servants, our duty extends beyond that obligation.”
The prosecutors point to the American Bar Association’s prescription that they should exercise discretion and “independent judgment.”
In an apparent dig at President Trump, they note that prosecutors often use their discretion by “declining to prosecute particular cases or even entire categories of crime.”
“For example, adultery remains criminal in over twenty states, but it is rarely, if ever, prosecuted,” they say. “Through his Supreme Court appointments, Donald Trump has resolved to foist on the nation a Supreme Court that will pillage the American legal landscape and deny women the choice that should remain theirs alone to make. We will not turn our backs on the public and fifty years of American jurisprudence.”
Trump has denied that he had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels just months after his wife Melania gave birth to their son.
Other prosecutors who signed on to the pledge include San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin, Nashville DA Glenn Funk, Denver DA Beth McCann, Dekalb County, Ga. DA Sherry Boston and Chittenden County, Vt. DA Sarah George.
“It has now become more important for prosecutors to stand up for women’s rights and send a clear message to President Trump that this will not stand,” Lang told the Daily News. “I hope all DAs and candidates for DA will join me in this pledge.”
Lang said she came up with idea two days ago and then began recruiting colleagues around the country who share her interest in reforming the criminal justice system.
Their pledge comes as the Senate is poised to approve Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.