Alvin Bragg set to Become next Manhattan District Attorney
Alvin Bragg appears to have clinched the race to become the next Manhattan District Attorney now that he has won the Democratic primary election. This is because in a city like New York, it's unlikely that a Republican challenger will emerge or succeed. This will make Bragg the next to run the most powerful prosecutor's offices in the country. Alvin Bragg, 47 years old, is a lawyer who formerly served as the Chief Deputy Attorney General in the New York State Office of Attorney General. He would be the first person of color to lead the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
Bragg grew up in Harlem, and attended Harvard for college and law school. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Robert Patterson before joining the law firm Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello. He joined the New York Attorney General's Office in 2003, and became an assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In 2017, Bragg was appointed to be chief deputy attorney general of New York and two years later, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the Manhattan District Attorney.
According to his website, Bragg plans to fight public corruption and white collar crime such as by prosecuting officials who took bribes, corporate contractors who pocketed money instead of providing services, health care fraud, and other white collar crimes. He is also targeting justice for sex crime survivors, reducing gun violence, and combating hate crimes.
When a new District Attorney is elected, this could result in a change of policy in criminal prosecutions. In a city with over 8 million people, even small changes can have big consequences. Could we see a large increase in arrests for white collar offenses and sex crimes? Obviously time will tell but on the heels of the Harvey Weinstein prosecution and Donald Trump investigations, the stage seems set for law enforcement that targets white collar and sex crimes over non-violent misdemeanors such as shoplifting or making graffiti in a continuing departure from broken windows policing.