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Office of the District Attorney P. David Soares
District Attorneys from Around the Country Join Together to Urge High Court
San Francisco , (CA) and New York, (NY) – San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris and Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today that they are leading District Attorneys from around the country in urging the United States Supreme Court not to erode criminal laws against illegal guns. Eighteen elected District Attorneys, representing jurisdictions that include the cities of Albany, New York, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, San Diego, Oakland, and Atlanta have joined a friend of the court (Amicus) brief with the United States Supreme Court in the matter of District of Columbia v. Heller. In Heller, the Court has agreed to decide the constitutionality of the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns and whether a criminal conviction under the ban is valid under the Second Amendment. The lower court earlier struck down the D.C. law, ruling that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear handguns. In agreeing to review the case, the Court is poised to address the meaning of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution for the first time since 1939. The Court’s decision could have a profound impact on the enforcement of state and local laws against illegal guns. “We will never combat the problem of gun violence until we deal with the proliferation of guns on our streets, the access to guns in our community and the willingness of individuals to use them. The affirmation of this case would undermine all the efforts my office, local law enforcement and this community are currently involved in to get illegal guns off our streets,” commented DA Soares. “We have taken the lead, with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, to impress on the Supreme Court the possible implications of the case for New York and other jurisdictions with strong gun laws,” said Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau. “We have made a major effort to prosecute people who violate the gun laws. If you get caught in Manhattan with an illegal gun, you can expect to end up behind bars.” “We are respectfully urging the Justices to avoid potentially negative, unintended, and wholly unnecessary consequences of an affirming opinion in this case,” said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris. “Getting illegal guns off our streets is one of my Office’s highest priorities. We strongly oppose any restrictions that would tie our hands and halt our ability to bring perpetrators to justice. I thank my fellow District Attorneys for joining me in highlighting this critical issue.” In filing the brief, the District Attorneys are highlighting the compelling interest they have in the outcome of District of Columbia v. Heller and the high priority they individually and collectively place on the prosecution of criminals who commit gun-related offenses. An affirming opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court in Heller could cast doubt upon the constitutionality of criminal gun laws the District Attorneys believe to be critical to public safety. The reasoning in the lower court opinion, if adopted wholesale by the U.S. Supreme Court, could erode many existing laws that have been built up over the past few decades against the illegal possession of guns. The District Attorneys’ co-counsel, Professor Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School, noted that if the Court strikes down the D.C. law, the validity of existing laws against illegal guns could be called into question as well. “These public officials have made it clear what is at stake in this case – it is an issue of public safety,” said Professor Laurie Levinson. “The District Attorneys who signed this brief have done a great public service. They have let the Justices know exactly how a decision in this case is likely to impair law enforcement's ability to do its job. That is an interest that no one can afford to ignore.” The District Attorneys’ brief will be the only one of its kind before the Court in this case. Representing the views of elected prosecutors from across the country, the brief will express the concerns of law enforcement officials charged with the protection of, collectively, nearly 27 million people residing in their jurisdictions. The brief will be filed on Friday, January 11, 2008. The Court is scheduled to take up the matter in March 2008. The District Attorneys who have signed on to the brief include, Alameda County, California District Attorney Thomas J. Orloff; Albany County, New York, District Attorney P. David Soares; Anoka County, Minnesota, District Attorney Robert M.A. Johnson; Bronx County District Attorney Robert T. Johnson; Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes; Calaveras County, California, District Attorney Jeffrey Tuttle; Cook County, Illinois, State’s Attorney Richard A. Devine; Dallas County, Texas, District Attorney Craig T. Watkins; Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr.; Hennepin County, Minnesota, County Attorney Michael O. Freeman; Marin County, California, District Attorney Edward S. Berberian; Prince George’s County, Maryland, State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey; Queens County District Attorney Richard A. Brown; San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie M. Dumanis; Suffolk County, Massachusetts, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Wayne County, Michigan, Prosecuting Attorney Kym L. Worthy. Illegal guns have been one of the top priorities of District Attorney Harris’ first term in office. The San Francisco District Attorney created a gun policy, established a gun specialist team with the support of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and has more than doubled the conviction rate at trial for gun crimes, from 43 percent to 90 percent. In 2007, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into law a package of strict anti-gun legislation co-authored by District Attorney Harris that will make San Francisco the U.S. city with the nation’s toughest gun laws. Manhattan District Attorney Morgenthau created a Firearms Trafficking Unit in 1993 to prosecute major gun possession and trafficking cases. The Office enhances its prosecution of firearms cases by debriefing all defendants arrested for selling or possessing illegal firearms. The office also worked closely with the New York State Legislature and the Governor’s Office to reform the state’s gun laws, increasing the penalties for illegal sale and possession of weapons. A joint statement by the participating District Attorneys, describing the brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, is attached to this release. ###
For further information contact: Heather Streeter Orth
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