FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 12, 2020
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ICYMI: NEW AD TAKES AIM AT OFFICIALS MISLEADING THE PUBLIC ABOUT CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
New Yorkers United for Justice Releases New Ad Holding County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder Accountable for Spreading Fear and Misinformation
NEW YORK — New Yorkers United for Justice (NYUJ), the state’s leading criminal justice advocacy organization, released a new ad criticizing Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder for knowingly misleading the public about criminal justice reform. The digital and television ads will air on Long Island and throughout the state and aims to set the record straight amid an influx of falsehoods targeting reforms.
As Newsday reports, NYUJ will continue to hold to account any individuals who spread fear, misinformation, and outright lies about long overdue criminal justice reforms making our state safer. From Newsday:
Criminal justice advocates are releasing a new television ad criticizing Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder for what they call “misleading the public” about New York’s new criminal justice policies and the death of a homeless man.
New Yorkers United for Justice said the ad is intended to combat erroneous statements Ryder made that suggested a link between the death of Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez to the state’s new discovery law, which requires prosecutors to more quickly share with defense attorney evidence that will be used in a trial.
Rodriguez, who was found dead Feb. 2, had been preparing to testify in a case against MS-13 gang members. Ryder had said pretrial information had been released prematurely and called for amending the law. But the commissioner later acknowledged there was no link between the murder and the law.
Ryder’s “disregard for the truth was reckless, irresponsible and exactly why criminal justice reforms are needed — to protect the rights of innocent people,” the ad narrator says. “It’s time to stop the fear and misinformation.”
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