Gun diversion program launches in Queens Criminal Court
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A new gun diversion part recently launched in Queens County Criminal Court. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
By Jacob Kaye
As shootings increase throughout the five boroughs, New York City leaders, for the most part, have gone to a familiar tool box to fight gun violence. But in Queens County Criminal Court prosecutors, court leaders and criminal justice advocates are taking a fresh approach.
A partnership between Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office, Queens Supreme Court, Criminal Term Administrative Judge George Grasso and the Fortune Society, a Queens-based nonprofit, has given life to a new gun diversion part, which recently began hearing cases in Queens.
The part, which shares similarities with drug treatment courts, mental health parts and other specialized court models, aims to offer young people charged for possessing a gun a chance to clear their name and access services that the court’s creators say will lead them away from committing crimes in the future.
“It’s not about traditional concepts of crime and punishment, but accountability,” Grasso told the Eagle. “It's the type of accountability, if done right and if fully embraced by the defendant, that keeps the defendant out of Rikers Island, keeps the defendant out of state prison, and maybe puts this young person on a path where they can have a successful and productive life, unencumbered by a felony record or jail time.”
The program is open to 18- through 24-year-olds facing criminal possession of a weapon charges in Queens who have no prior criminal history.
The process begins when a committee in the Queens DA’s office, led by Assistant District Attorney Aisha Greene, who serves as the bureau chief of Rehabilitation Programs and Restorative Services, and Assistant District Attorney Gregory Balkam, makes a determination as to whether or not a defendant who fits the criteria can participate in the program.
If a defendant is determined to be a fit, they’ll be required to plead guilty to the charges and sign a contract ensuring their participation in the program.
Participation in the program requires defendants to attend weekly counseling sessions with the Fortune Society, which runs a number of programs and services for formerly incarcerated individuals that participants will have access to – that could include job placement services, educational opportunities and housing assistance.
Participants will take part in cognitive behavioral intervention groups, focusing specifically around alternatives to violence, and a number of them will go through a civic engagement program run by the Fortune Society.
Should they complete the year-long program, as well as two additional years of probation, the charges against them will be vacated.
Throughout the year, they’ll be required to frequently check in with the court and will have a number of restrictions placed on them. They’ll be unable to travel out of the state without court approval, they can’t be rearrested or associate with gang members and must pass drug tests administered by the Fortune Society.
If participants don’t meet the requirements they’ll have to serve 2 ½ years in prison and serve an additional two years of probation.
The program’s creators say the gun diversion part goes beyond just locking people to solve gun violence and instead addresses the root causes that lead people to the place where they first feel the need to pick up a weapon.
“What we're doing with folks is really getting to the heart of that criminal justice involvement and turning that around and preventing future involvement,” said Rob DeLeon, a senior vice president at Fortune Society. “We take a philosophical approach that our approach as a society to criminal justice hasn't necessarily worked – it's been a real lock them up, learn your lesson, or else kind of approach.”
“We have actual data that shows that engaging an individual in prosocial activities works better,” DeLeon added. “We're going to help these folks who had their own traumas, their own experiences that led them to involvement in the criminal legal system to begin with.”
The program has been in development for about a year, according to its creators.
It began when Greene, who has done similar work throughout her career, approached the Fortune Society, which frequently collaborates with the DA’s office. Additionally, the program fits squarely into Grasso’s work as administrative judge in Queens – prior to his placement in the borough, he was tapped to lead the court’s top count gun case initiative, which he has continued to lead since coming to Queens.
"This effort, the result of many months of preparation and hard work by the Queens District Attorney’s office, is consistent with DA Katz’s oft-stated, on-going commitment to pursue and prosecute drivers of gun violence while working to prevent violent crime and to keep guns out of the hands of young people,” a spokesperson for Katz told the Eagle.
“Taking a restorative justice approach and working with the Fortune Society, this program engages participants in a rigorous, year-long process to understand the harm caused to the community and address traumas and/or community conditions leading to possession of a firearm,” they added.
On a recent Friday in April, Queens Supreme Court Judge Marcia P. Hirsch, who oversees the part, had three young men come before her in the gun diversion part.
The mood in the courtroom was lighter than some might expect.
All three defendants had agreed to participate in the program and appeared dedicated to completing it. Most had trouble obtaining employment and access to income, but were promised support from the Fortune Society and the court.
Victoria Brown-Douglas, an attorney for one of the participants, told Hirsch and Grasso, who was sitting in on the proceedings, how excited she was to have the gun diversion part in Queens.
“I am so fortunate to have a problem solving court like this in Queens County,” said Brown-Douglas, who has been a practicing attorney in Queens for around 30 years. “I know it will be a difficult road for [my client] but I’m so proud of him for taking this road.”
In his first three months in office, Mayor Eric Adams has taken a relatively tough on crime approach. He has advocated for a more strict approach to setting bail, which he says will cut back on the probability of someone committing a violent crime while awaiting trial.
The gun diversion part’s creators say, however, that allowing the program’s young participants to get involved in their community and gain access to programming that will likely open up future opportunities, may do just as much, if not more, to keep people safe.
“We want to minimize the chance that any individual who comes into the criminal justice system for this type of an offense ever carries a gun illegally again, let alone uses it,” Grasso said. “In my judgment, this program, done right, does just that.”
