Manhattan District Attorney Race: Tahanie Aboushi Profile

NEW YORK, NY — Voters in Manhattan will see eight names on the Democratic ballot and one on the Republican when they vote in the June 22 primary election for Manhattan District Attorney.

One of those names will be human rights attorney Tahanie Aboushi.

She is running to succeed Cyrus Vance Jr., who said in mid-March that he will not seek reelection.

The Manhattan District Attorney's race is not ranked-choice voting.

Patch reached out to all candidates in the election to create these profiles. Aboushi's responses are below.

Tahanie Aboushi

Age (as of Election Day)

35

Position Sought

Manhattan District Attorney

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Neighborhood of residence (i.e., East Village, Astoria, etc.)

Harlem

Family

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My Brother, Aymen Aboushi, Corporation counsel of the city of Paterson, New Jersey

Education

St. John’s University BA, Legal Studies
Syracuse Law School, JD

Occupation

Civil Rights Attorney

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I am a board member of Manhattan Community Board 10.

Campaign website

www.tahanieforDA.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am someone the prosecution system tried to throw away. When I was 14 my father was sentenced to 22 years in prison and my mother was forced to raise 10 children on her own. I distinctly remember a moment during the trial where the judge interrupted the proceedings to ask the prosecutor what she planned to do with me and my siblings. Without hesitation the prosecutor said we were not her problem. That was the moment the justice system became my problem.
This experience was my introduction to the prosecution system and is what inspired my journey to dismantle a racist and abusive system that tears families apart. I want to stand by families like mine to ensure a safe and just system for everyone.. I have been a civil rights attorney for over a decade in this city, taking on powerful agencies like the NYPD and the NYFD and holding them accountable. Now, I am running for Manhattan DA because I am done doing damage control. It’s time that we have a DA that is ready on day one to transform the DA’s office from a place that destabilizes communities of color, to one that invests in and restores them.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

I think for most New Yorkers right now, the most pressing issue would have to be policing. In recent weeks, we have seen candidates throughout the city pander to fears about violent crime to justify policies that would completely roll back the clock on criminal justice reform. We know more police does not mean more safety -- particularly for Black and brown New Yorkers, so let’s find solutions that will actually address the root of the problem. As DA, I will NOT bring back Stop-and-Frisk or any other failed racist policies that were implemented during the Bloomberg and Giuliani era and only led to the over-policing and over-incarceration of Black and brown people. My office will not waste resources prosecuting cases that do not further our goals of public safety and fairness. Instead, we will focus our attention and resources on the issues and crimes that matter. Under my declination policy, we will decline to prosecute cases resulting from poverty, mental illness, or substance use.
We must transform the office’s prosecute-at-all-costs mentality and ensure we are operating from a public health--not revenge and incarceration-based--perspective. We need to invest in community-based organizations, as well as public health experts and social workers who are far better suited to healing and rebuilding lives than police officers and prosecutors, precisely because they have been expected to deal with problems that cannot be fixed with policing or prosecution. Our over-reliance on policing to solve all of society’s problems must end. To ensure that my office furthers these goals, I will have an open door policy that will allow community observers to help us monitor cases and trends to assess the impact on race, class and equity. By allowing outside groups to see the work we are doing and how we are doing it, we will allow for an important check to ensure that our work and the cases we bring are not reinforcing the inequities in our society.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am the only civil rights attorney in this race. As a civil rights attorney, my work goes beyond fighting for cases on the right or left side of the courtroom -- it’s been about challenging and changing the way the system works at its core. This is exactly what the job of the District Attorney will be, to have a 180 view of how certain practices are affecting our communities and challenging those that need to change. I did this when I sued the NYPD and ensured officers were disciplined, charged, and terminated for their conduct – no other candidate can say that even though they had the opportunity to do the same.
I am not a career politician or even a career prosecutor. I am someone from the impacted community who believes in every single policy I am proposing, and I believe each one—not alone—will be part of a puzzle to a more fair, more just system. I believe bold steps will set an example for the other boroughs and the entire state. If we can show these policies work here in New York, there is no reason they cannot work elsewhere. But it is because I do not define myself as a politician that I will not be afraid to take the steps needed to enact the changes we know are needed.
I am also not accepting contributions from corporate PACs, real estate developers, or law enforcement officials. This is something that not everyone in this race can say.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has been one of the biggest players in this systemically racist generational tragedy that we call the criminal justice system. The Office has functioned as a purveyor of pain and suffering, hurting even the victims of crime that it fails to support and communities it has failed to protect, while looking the other way on corporate crimes of economic and environmental injustice.
We need a new model that is rooted in community-based engagement, participatory justice principles, and a determined insistence that uplifting and investing in people – not policing and incarcerating them – is the route to safety.
We will decline to prosecute charges stemming from poverty, mental illness, substance use or sex work, and refuse to prosecute problems that should be addressed through public health solutions. We will fight to change laws wherever necessary, and build coalitions with stakeholders from our neighborhoods, labor allies, and government agencies.
This office sent the overwhelming majority of people of color to Rikers while it struggled to hold the powerful and privileged accountable.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

The problem with the COVID-19 response is that there was no expedient response. Local elected officials took far too long to respond to the pandemic and the little aid that has been provided has been only a small dent to the need that is needed. This led many New Yorkers, especially those in vulnerable communities, to fend for themselves. In a system that is already working against communities of color, this proved to be detrimental. Also, the pandemic exacerbated social inequities like housing and food insecurity - issues that have been long ignored. I would ensure a coherent and rapid information system for people to know what is happening and what their options are.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

As District Attorney, I plan to transform the carceral system. On day 1, I will implement my Declination and Diversion Policy, a policy that will decline to prosecute crimes that are public health issues -- including sex work and cases that result from poverty, mental illness, or substance abuse -- adjourn as many cases as possible, and offer alternatives to incarceration. I will also create a Police Accountability Unit that will work independently to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by officers -- including when they falsely testify in court, tamper with evidence, or submit false police reports. I will create a Prosecutor Accountability Unit that works with local Court Watch programs, public defenders, and internal office units to ensure compliance from prosecutors. My robust policy would collect and analyze data of not only officers who abuse their position of public trust — be it lying, manipulating evidence, coercing pleas or intimidating witnesses — but also prosecutors who cover up bad policing and engage in misconduct to secure a conviction. Police and prosecutor misconduct make up the overwhelming majority of wrongful convictions. That pattern further undermines public trust in the office, making it more unlikely for victims to feel comfortable coming forward. And lastly, I will focus on the big picture. Accountability is partly about reducing harm. To reduce the number of police-involved killings, we have to reduce the number of police. I will work alongside communities to defund the police, reallocate our billion dollar budget, and invest in our communities.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have been a civil rights attorney for over 10 years in this city and during that time I have gone up against many big city agencies, including the NYPD and NYFD. These agencies allow for patterns and practices that violate the law and permit misconduct based on special treatment and favors. I am proud to say that I am one of the only candidates in the race who has ensured the discipline, termination and/or prosecution of officers for misconduct. I’ve fought discrimination cases including a case where 3 women were forced to remove their hijabs during booking and one where firefighters were being forced to shave their beards. When a young man was beaten by a police officer and then harassed and threatened for making a complaint, I made sure that the officer was off the force and criminal charges were brought. I take cases like these because the imbalance of power does not sit right with me. We need accountability and proactive solutions to upending these abusive practices, both for police and the prosecutors who have enabled misconduct. As District Attorney I will transform the office so that it is both accessible and accountable to the community. And I will hold those who abuse their power accountable.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Growing up my father always gave me the best advice and he would always say to never the opinions of others be my limitation. He always instilled in my siblings and me that education was the key to our success. He constantly pushed all of us to establish a plan that revolved around our education and it's now something that I am passing on to my nieces and nephews.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I would like voters to know that we are at a crucial moment in our city, and what our city needs right now is not a better prosecutor, but a better system. For decades, it’s been people of color on one side of the courtroom and white prosecutors on the other. I believe it's time to change that. I am running to completely transform this office from a place that destabilizes our communities, to one that restores and invests in them.

I absolutely refuse to criminalize poverty in any way shape or form. I have committed to ending the District Attorney’s office mass incarceration policies. We will not prosecute crimes of poverty, mental health issues or substance abuse disorder. I have released my declination policy where I have outlined how my office will take the most progressive approach to prosecution in the county. We need to talk more about the low clearance rate of serious crimes and how we will focus the offices resources there too.