Opinion: There was nothing I could to as a prosecutor to reform the justice system
/
Julia Forman is a candidate for City Council in District 26 and a former Bronx assistant district attorney. Photo courtesy of Forman
By Julia Forman
In law school I found myself in a White Collar Crime class taught by two former Assistant United States Attorneys from SDNY.
I was riveted by their stories about taking down racketeers and other people who prey on the public for their own benefit, and it lit a lightbulb in my head, I wanted to do that!
I didn’t want to be just another corporate attorney making rich people richer; I wanted to stop rich people from taking advantage of the rest of us for their own financial gain. I wanted to stop people in power from abusing that power at the expense of the rest of us.
Because of that desire, I took an internship at the NYS Attorney General’s Office in their Criminal Prosecutions Bureau.
There I assisted on two cases, one was investigating the theft and sale of confidential, HIPAA protected patient data by hospital employees and the other was prosecuting fraudulent, unaccredited nursing schools that stole thousands of dollars mainly from immigrant women of color.
The people being investigated were causing clear, serious harm to people and communities, and needed to be stopped. I saw the role of the prosecutor to be in complete service to the community, stepping in to prevent future harm, and to do the work to make the victims whole.
Once I graduated, I took a job at the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. I thought that I would be continuing that work, preventing people who are causing harm to the community from inflicting more damage.
But I quickly realized that no matter how the case came out a few things were true. First, if there was a victim, I could not change what happened to them. I did not have the tools to make it better. Second, even if a guilty plea or verdict was the right solution, our over-reliance on incarceration made me feel like I was causing even more harm for the community while doing nothing to rehabilitate or solve problems such as poverty that often lead to crime.
I struggled with every choice, every case, and the career I had chosen. I wanted desperately to make things better for every victim I met. I couldn’t undo what they went through, and I wasn’t preventing anyone else from experiencing the same or similar trauma.
The pain and anxiety caused by my job started to manifest in physical ways.
It happened slowly, but it got to a point where I wasn’t sleeping or eating properly. Everyday, even when I wasn't at work, I was filled with despair, anxiety, and dread. I blamed myself for not being strong enough, and considered myself to be a failure. This belief was echoed back to me multiple times. There was little consideration or recourse for an ADA to make to change the system.
I was stuck. I wanted to stay and try to fix the system, but at the same I knew deep down that there was little I could do to make change as an ADA. This wreaked havoc on my self confidence, my health, and my wellbeing. I knew that continuing to do this job was wrong; I wasn't helping people as I had set out to do.
I was finally able to stop practicing criminal law in 2016 and switched to the Civil Litigation Bureau.
After the switch, I was able to really look back at that time with some clarity.
There was nothing wrong with me; there is just a lot wrong with our criminal justice system.
There is a lot wrong with the way that communities of color, low-income communities, and immigrant communities are over policed and over incarcerated. There is a lot wrong with a system that pours millions and millions of dollars into punishing people, and almost nothing into rehabilitation, restorative justice, or services to help victims get through traumatic experiences.
Although I chose to leave that career path, I haven’t given up on helping New Yorkers.
I still want to stop people in power from abusing that power at the expense of our communities. Only now, I know that the criminal justice system is part of that abuse of power. I’m running for City Council because I believe my experience of working within the system will bring a new perspective on how to dismantle the system from the inside.
As councilmember I will fight tooth and nail to hold law enforcement accountable, pass legislation to reduce New Yorkers’ overexposure to this system, and invest our tax dollars towards anti-violence programs that address the issues on the ground. I will use my lived experience to bring a different perspective to the City Council, to create change from the inside, and to end the decades of over-policing and over-incarceration. I hope you will join me in this fight.
Julia Forman is a candidate for Council District 26 and a former prosecutor in the Bronx.
