CONTACT:
Erin Duggan
Cy Vance for Manhattan DA
(646) 248-4370
eduggan@cyvanceforda.com

The League of Young Voters Political Action Committee (LYV) today endorsed Cy Vance, Democratic candidate for Manhattan District Attorney. The League, a national youth empowerment and progressive political organization that focuses on non-college youth and young people from low-income communities and communities of color, voiced enthusiastic support for Vance’s youth initiatives, including the creation of a Youth Advisory Council in the Manhattan DA’s Office. As District Attorney, Vance plans to work with young activists and youth service providers in Manhattan to reform the way the DA’s Office deals with young offenders and to reduce crime among young people.

“Manhattan’s young people are some of the borough’s most powerless residents. By bringing young people into the office and by listening to them, we will better understand the way the DA’s actions affect youth and find new and more effective ways to work with young offenders,” said Vance. “I am proud to have the support of The League of Young Voters, which has worked tirelessly to empower and engage young people - particularly disenfranchised young people – in the political process. By working with organizations like The League, we will ensure that the voices of the young residents of Manhattan are always heard by the DA’s office.”

LYV Political Director David H. Dix said, “The League of Young Voters and the young people of Manhattan are thrilled that Cy’s plans for the DA’s Office show a dedication to reforming the way that the system works with juvenile offenders. His plans to give young people access to the office demonstrate commitment to working with and for the young people of Manhattan.”

Vance discussed some of the problems facing Manhattan. “The City of New York arrests over 11,000 juveniles per year, and sends over 5,000 juveniles to juvenile detention,” Vance said. “The vast majority are young people of color, come from the city’s poorest neighborhoods, and have been failed by other public systems. It is the responsibility of the DA to work with Manhattan’s youth, not against them, in the hopes of keeping kids out of trouble and out of juvenile detention. By working with schools, community leaders, and youth service providers, we will find alternatives to incarceration within young people’s own communities. We must prevent those that have had a brush with the law from facing a life of repeated incarcerations.”

LYV joins a growing list of prominent endorsements from groups and individuals who believe Cy Vance will be the best District Attorney, in the last three weeks Vance has been endorsed by the New York Times and the Daily News, UFT, U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, State Senator Tom Duane, RWDSU, Tenants PAC and the Innocence Project Co-Founders Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. Earlier this summer Vance was endorsed by current District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, former Mayor David Dinkins, Caroline Kennedy, Gloria Steinem, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, Council Member Alan Gerson, former Comptroller H. Carl McCall, Teamsters Local 237, The Sergeants Benevolent Association, former U.S. Attorneys Robert Fiske and Zachary Carter, the founder of the Doe Fund, and many more. He is also supported by more than 100 former ADA’s – men and women who have worked with all three candidates and know what it takes to be an exemplary District Attorney.

YOUTH INITIATIVES

As Manhattan DA, Cy Vance’s program for young people will reduce recidivism, provide alternatives to juvenile detention, and increase communication between the office and young people. The Office will reach out to youth to prevent them from turning to crime and to keep those who have had brushes with the law from re-offending. By working with young people, youth advocates, and schools, the Office will have its ear to the ground to learn how best to prevent crime and provide opportunities to Manhattan’s young people. Vance’s initiatives include:

• Youth Advisory Council
  
  • The Council will include young activists and community organizers from around Manhattan, ages 16 – 21, who will work with law students to act on the issues that affect them most. The Council has two main objectives: education and outreach. In order for the DA’s office to help the different neighborhoods of Manhattan, it is important for these communities to know both the role of the office and the services provided by it. To this end, the Council will work to reach out and provide information to schools, youth centers, and other locations frequented by young people. The council’s second goal is to bring young people’s concerns to the DA’s attention and to provide research and first-hand accounts of how the DA’s office is affecting Manhattan’s young. To do this, members of the council will work in small groups with law students, focusing on issues like school safety and bullying, internet harassment and stalking. By giving these young people a direct line to the DA’s office, the DA will have a chance to better understand how the many issues that the office handles affect one of Manhattan’s most powerless groups.
    
    
    
• Youth Service Provider Council
  • The Youth Service Provider Council will be composed of youth advocates and service providers throughout Manhattan who will work with the DA’s office on education and outreach. It will provide the DA’s office with suggestions of new and promising alternatives to incarceration and prosecution of young offenders. By working with those who devote their lives to helping young people, the DA’s office will be able not only to effectively reach out to this community, but also to devise creative and progressive ways to keep young people out of juvenile detention and to provide effective treatment.
    
    
• School Liaison
  • Vance will assign a liaison to track all of the cases occurring in or around schools, who will be aware of trends that will help the DA’s office better aid educators in making schools safer. The liaison will be an expert in the types of cases that affect students and will understand the circumstances surrounding young offenders. By focusing on the issues that impact this community most acutely, we can work to prevent school crime and to provide the best possible solutions for young people within their own communities.
    
    
• Internship Program
  • Vance will expand existing internship programs within the DA’s office. Interns will work throughout the year to provide assistance to members of the office and work with the Youth Advisory Council. The office will reach out to find candidates for internships from diverse backgrounds throughout the city. The internships will be offered both to those interested in a career in criminal justice and to those who have already run afoul of the law and would benefit from an opportunity to see how the process works from the other side.