Rice is firing lots of people

[Worried ADA]

Kathy Rice is quietly firing ADAs. Far beyond the initial 12 that she fired before. Deputy Bureau Chief Madeline Pomerantz was fired yesterday and at least two line assistants were fired last week.

Apparently, she tells them that she wants to speak to them, they go to her office and she says pack up your stuff and don't come back tomorrow. She does not give them time to find another job or anything.

Newsday should pay more attention to what is going on with her because she is really doing a terrible job so far. She froze all plea bargains until about a week ago for DWIs because she "had to figure out what the plea bargaining plan is" and then she just adopted the NYC DA's Offices standards. She is angering both the ADAs and, more important politically, the attorneys in Nassau County. Where is Newsday while all this is going on?

Another good question is, why are all the judges setting such low bails this week? Maybe they aren't happy with her either.

[Divine Right Shit]

What? ALL the Dillon appointees have a divine right to keep their jobs?

They dont.

What? ALL the Dillon appointees have a divine right to keep their jobs?

They dont.

Yeah, but Rice is running out of family members to hire in the DA's Office.

[aother hack]

she is proving how worthless she is, freezing all plea bargains will ruin her credibility to offer any future deals when needed. dismissing attorneys in the middle of cases they may be working on should guarenty that the case wont go in the counties favor.

I say give her enough rope.

[Former DA]

All the Dillon people have a right to keep their jobs?


Not necessarily, but a prosecutors office needs a professional staff to prosecute the cases. No matter how much B.S. rhetoric comes out of the mouths of the politicians, they still need experienced and competent trial lawyers to go to court and try the cases. It is a bad idea to fire solid staff prosecutors and replace them with your incompetent political friends because they will get their asses handed to them on trial.

Furthermore, the way she is firing the ADAs is so low class. She calls them in and tells them that they are fired, to go pack up their stuff and don't come in tomorrow. She should give them a little bit of time to find another job. These are dedicated people with families who she is canning so she can hire her political friends.

Finally, if you go around canning prosecutors at whim, you destabilize the office and create a culture of fear that will hamper the recruitment of competent prosecutors. Good attorneys are not going to work at a DA's office where they are paid nothing and can be fired on a whim at any moment. It just isn't worth it for them.

Rice completely lacks class. Her bush league moves are hurting the people of the county and also angering judges and the bar. If she keeps this up she might be a one term DA.

[Reality Check for ADAs]

All the Dillon people have a right to keep their jobs?


Not necessarily, but a prosecutors office needs a professional staff to prosecute the cases. No matter how much B.S. rhetoric comes out of the mouths of the politicians, they still need experienced and competent trial lawyers to go to court and try the cases. It is a bad idea to fire solid staff prosecutors and replace them with your incompetent political friends because they will get their asses handed to them on trial.

Furthermore, the way she is firing the ADAs is so low class. She calls them in and tells them that they are fired, to go pack up their stuff and don't come in tomorrow. She should give them a little bit of time to find another job. These are dedicated people with families who she is canning so she can hire her political friends.

Finally, if you go around canning prosecutors at whim, you destabilize the office and create a culture of fear that will hamper the recruitment of competent prosecutors. Good attorneys are not going to work at a DA's office where they are paid nothing and can be fired on a whim at any moment. It just isn't worth it for them.

Rice completely lacks class. Her bush league moves are hurting the people of the county and also angering judges and the bar. If she keeps this up she might be a one term DA.


One term means four years of this nonsense. I agree that Touro Graduate Kathleen Rice is an abomination. She is Tom Suozzi's creation, and everything Tom Suozzi touches turns to crap. So now the former ADAs know that the political people weren't BSing them. In a way, the "former ADAs" sort of had it coming to them. Everyone who is an appointee in any government office is on some level a "political appointee," no matter how "good" or "experienced" you think you may be.

Hopefully, the former ADAs will think long and hard before they ever vote for a Democrat again, and watch their jobs go to someone from Brooklyn, Philadelphia, or some politician's circle of family, friends, donors, and cronyies.

Maybe Ms. Rice will arrest any of the County Legislators who have the nerve to collect a paycheck for January - February 10, 2006.

Maybe Ms. Rice will arrest any of the County Legislators who have the nerve to collect a paycheck for January - February 10, 2006.

she'll do that after she indicts herself for nepotism.

Did she fire Marshal Trainer?

Did she fire Marshal Trainer?

I think u mean trager

i wondered what became ofhim

i like him

[Former ADA]

First, I left the DA's office long before Kathy Rice, so I am not a bitter fired employee.

The problem is not the Democrats themselves. The Dems came to power because the Republicans were totally corrupt and mismanaged the county for 20 years. Each party is concerned with themselves and not with the people. They both stink.

THe central issue is that you cannot attract quality people to a prosecutors office by treating the ADAs like garbage, paying them nothing, and then firing them on a whim. Good folks will avoid the office and it will be filled with incompetent political hacks like the current deputy county attorneys. Once the hacks come in, they will get their asses handed to them at trial by the defense bar, which is made up largely of competent former ADAs. Then Rice will start to lose cases and in the end, the public will get shafted.

Marshall Trager is the current Deputy Bureau Chief of District Court. He gets lent out to Special Investigations every now and then for his expertise at handling complex cases. But the way things are run by Rice, who knows, he could be fired at lunch time on Monday.

First, I left the DA's office long before Kathy Rice, so I am not a bitter fired employee.

The problem is not the Democrats themselves. The Dems came to power because the Republicans were totally corrupt and mismanaged the county for 20 years. Each party is concerned with themselves and not with the people. They both stink.

THe central issue is that you cannot attract quality people to a prosecutors office by treating the ADAs like garbage, paying them nothing, and then firing them on a whim. Good folks will avoid the office and it will be filled with incompetent political hacks like the current deputy county attorneys. Once the hacks come in, they will get their asses handed to them at trial by the defense bar, which is made up largely of competent former ADAs. Then Rice will start to lose cases and in the end, the public will get shafted.

Marshall Trager is the current Deputy Bureau Chief of District Court. He gets lent out to Special Investigations every now and then for his expertise at handling complex cases. But the way things are run by Rice, who knows, he could be fired at lunch time on Monday.

Please remember that you owe your career to the "corrupt Republicans," because your former boss was their candidate for several terms. Frankly, you owed your former position to every Republican committeeperson who ever carried a petition for your boss, and don't you ever forget that, because you probably never had to carry a nominating petition, or do the grunt work of running for a political office. You enjoyed the benefit of the sweat equity of others.

The time has come for men and women like you to choose a side. No individual person is an island, and everyone owes their livelihoods to someone, a "rabbi" or other benefactor, or to their clients if they are fortunate enough have a following. ADAs who thought they were better than the political system - people with the viewpoint I detect in your post - are the very reason why we have a District Attorney like Ms. Rice today. Ultimately, the "central issue" is obtaining and holding onto political power.

You really don't see the "central issue" if you fail to see this one. Frankly, I don't blame you though, since Mr. Dillon himself never stood up to Ms. Rice's demogoguery, and I blame him personally for letting his people down in the end. Dillon failed in the end because he failed to acknowledge that he was engaged in a war with Ms. Rice, and he failed to ruthlessly prosecute this war, the gender of his opponent notwithstanding. The good people who are now losing their jobs deserved better than Mr. Dillon's campaign in 2005. They showed loyalty to him over the years and deserve better than this carnage.

[Former ADA]

You say : "Please remember that you owe your career to the "corrupt Republicans,"
"The time has come for men and women like you to choose a side. No individual person is an island, and everyone owes their livelihoods to someone, a "rabbi" or other benefactor, or to their clients if they are fortunate enough have a following. ADAs who thought they were better than the political system - people with the viewpoint I detect in your post - are the very reason why we have a District Attorney like Ms. Rice today. "


What you fail to realize is that there is a difference between politics and public corruption. The reason Suozzi and Rice are even in office is because the Nassau Republicans destroyed this county. They ran it into the ground.

So many people like me are disgusted with both sides in this county because they have destroyed it. We don't need to choose a side. We need to reform the current political system because both sides have turned Nassau County into the most expensive, polluted and mismanaged county in New York state.

You say I owed my position to republican committeemen.
I owe my DA years to Denis Dillon, because he used the power he obtained to hire a non political professional staff of prosecutors.
That is what any smart DA will aim for.

You say: "Frankly, you owed your former position to every Republican committeeperson who ever carried a petition for your boss, and don't you ever forget that, because you probably never had to carry a nominating petition, or do the grunt work of running for a political office. You enjoyed the benefit of the sweat equity of others."

what you fail to realize is that these politicians also enjoyed the sweat equity of the ADAs. Crime was at record low levels in this county which helped keep you pols in power. Crime was kept down because there was an excellent group of professional prosecutors enforcing the law. Trying cases in criminal court is not a skill that you can fake. The political hacks would get their asses handed to them if they tried to jump in and play prosecutor in exchange for handing out leaflets at a train station.

This is something that Rice may have in store for her if she keeps going in direction she has taken.

The Republicans need to wake up and realize that Suozzi is not the disease itself, he is simply the symptom of 20 years of Republican corruption and mismanagement of this county. Clean up your own house and maybe men and women like me will be happy to stand with you to promote a platform that is worthy of public support.

[Corbin on Contracts]

Keep on deluding yourself. Look at your own former colleagues in the DA's Office. How many really were "contracts," even under Dillon? Frankly, you know the truth. Even Rice was initially a Dillon contract because dollars to donuts there were more qualified people than her who applied for internships in the DA's office that year and didn't get them. Did Dillon exhaust the applicant pool from more prestigious law schools before choosing Touro student Rice as a law intern? So by definition, Dillon did contracts too.

By choosing to ignore the fact that politicians need to win elections, and do so through the efforts of monetary contributions and the work of volunteers, you ignore the fundamental reality that your office - including your own personal appointment - was essentially political. Ultimately, you were a person who had a certain job at a certain time. It could have easily been someone else doing your job, earning your paycheck and benefits, and since the criminal justice system is so heavily pro-government, convicting the same accused criminals you did. Government jobs are like that. Some do them better. Some do them worse. But everyone can be replaced.

Just remember, since your old boss claimed to be "non-political," the party committee people who helped him win election after election never got anything in return. Sometimes, and perhaps far too often, rank in file committee people of the various political parties give without getting in return. And often their efforts are genuinely volunteer.

[Guest 23]

I think it's a shame if non-political ADA's are being fired to free up desk space for political contracts. When Vacco became AG, that's precisely what he did. It stunk then and it stinks now.

It is wishful thinking to expect that the new hires are going to get killed once they go to trial out here in Nassau. The secret to prosecuting cases in Nassau County was never in the strength of the ADA's, many of whom were good but some of whom were also run-of-the-mill at best. The secret is in the juries. They aren't going to change so most of the time a technically sufficient case, if it gets to the jury, is going to result in a conviction.

I think Ms. Rice is going to fall when the deal she has clearly made with the devil is called in. When she is presented with clear evidence of corruption within the Suozzi administration, and punts on it as a result of pressue applied from the party, based upon knowledge obtained from the party's in-house overseer, somebody will take her office down, and her with it.

[Professor Corbin to 23]

For that post, my friend, you deserve an "A," because once again, you cut through all the partisan bull and come up with the most incisive post yet. But lets face it, Spitzer did start a "reproductive freedom unit" in his office. And his NY County Torts bureau seems to be understaffed, and alot of cases are given long adjournments to accommodate this. Vacco did bring in some career prosecutors as well too, but in the end, his accepting a position at Waste Management was too much even for a partisan like myself.

[Guest 23]

Thanks, Professor, although I'm more of a Calamari man.

Can anybody enlighten us with the names/former offices/credentials of the new hires? That should really tell the tale as to whether this is a mere replacement of quality Republicans with quality non-Republicans, or a purge with no regard for quality at all.

Is there a known screening committee? Do resumes have to come through anybody connected with the party or Party Headquarters?

In particular, who are the bureau chiefs?

Who got Frank Schroeder's job, or Bob Biancavilla's?

[If You're a Calamari Guy]

Thanks, Professor, although I'm more of a Calamari man.

Can anybody enlighten us with the names/former offices/credentials of the new hires? That should really tell the tale as to whether this is a mere replacement of quality Republicans with quality non-Republicans, or a purge with no regard for quality at all.

Is there a known screening committee? Do resumes have to come through anybody connected with the party or Party Headquarters?

In particular, who are the bureau chiefs?

Who got Frank Schroeder's job, or Bob Biancavilla's?

Then you've just made a friend on this board. I guess we are both disappointed with our brother then.

[Divine Ms Rice]

NONE OF YOUR REP ADA JOBS ARE A DIVINE RIGHT> GET OVER IT AND GET INTO PRIVATE NOW

[Guest 23]

If you're writing about the former CPA/lawyer from Glen Cove who can do it because he's done it, disappointed doesn't begin to cover my state of mind.

[sad lincoln's birthday]

If you're writing about the former CPA/lawyer from Glen Cove who can do it because he's done it, disappointed doesn't begin to cover my state of mind.

Damn straight I am! Sad, because so much was expected from him. Our perspective on the former CPA/lawyer from Glen Cove is sort of unique for that reason, and our anger is more bittersweet for that reason as well.

[Guest 23]

Actually he didn't disappoint me all that much. I saw through the smile and the snappy line of bs and decided that he was the same garbage in a different box.

She, on the other hand, has disappointed the hell out of me.

[Guest 23]

I would ask the person who started this thread to follow up on some questions I raised earlier. Who is being hired to replace the purge victims? Is there any obvious connection between the new hires and either the local party or some power broker within the party? By chance, are any of the new hires coming from places where Suozzi is looking to gain influence in his campaign to leave Nassau County in the rear view mirror?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I would ask the person who started this thread to follow up on some questions I raised earlier. Who is being hired to replace the purge victims? Is there any obvious connection between the new hires and either the local party or some power broker within the party? By chance, are any of the new hires coming from places where Suozzi is looking to gain influence in his campaign to leave Nassau County in the rear view mirror?

Inquiring minds want to know.

"Is there any obvious connection between the new hires and either the local party or some power broker within the party?"

Jeff S., new Chief of Administration. Gee...no connection to the party there.

[connected]

Look for GT connections. He is known to have aasked for a set number of patronage position to dole out on his own say so.

[Guest 23]

It's easy to hint at the obvious and thus to appear profound. I'm asking a question that's somewhat more difficult to answer, because it requires you to be in possession of those most uncomfortable things--facts. Yes, Jeff is a party boy--that's obvious. Who has he actually brought into the office? If there is a new hire, show me the rabbi. Is that too difficult?

And to the last poster, I can't for the life of me imagine Gerard Terry wasting his favors on jobs, such as ADA jobs, where there is no business to be steered back his way. Count on it, if he has some patronage slots, he's using them to place people who can send fees to otherwise unemployable lawyers.

[Guest 23]

For "not allowed" read GT.

[good point guest 23]

It's easy to hint at the obvious and thus to appear profound. I'm asking a question that's somewhat more difficult to answer, because it requires you to be in possession of those most uncomfortable things--facts. Yes, Jeff is a party boy--that's obvious. Who has he actually brought into the office? If there is a new hire, show me the rabbi. Is that too difficult?

And to the last poster, I can't for the life of me imagine ///now allowed/// wasting his favors on jobs, such as ADA jobs, where there is no business to be steered back his way. Count on it, if he has some patronage slots, he's using them to place people who can send fees to otherwise unemployable lawyers.


The recent Sales Tax article hinted on a county hiring freeze. To me, that sounds like only hardcore, heavy contracts are getting into the system across the boards. Rice's new "plea bargain" policy, which appears to have judges, the defense bar, and the probation department up in arms, will create more trial work, and she may just have fewer capable bodies to try them. This sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, but I am just a dumb pol. What do you think?

[Guest 23]

I think you could double, or even treble, the number of felony cases going to trial and it would be the rare County Court judge who consistently had a full day's work to do. Thus they are probably quite miffed that more cases are coming to trial, at least potentially, because it spoils what has been to now quite the cushy place to work.

That being said, I think that you're right. Anyone who gets hired has some juice, which is why I posed my question earlier--show me the rabbi.

[Corbin/Abe on Contracts]

I think you could double, or even treble, the number of felony cases going to trial and it would be the rare County Court judge who consistently had a full day's work to do. Thus they are probably quite miffed that more cases are coming to trial, at least potentially, because it spoils what has been to now quite the cushy place to work.

That being said, I think that you're right. Anyone who gets hired has some juice, which is why I posed my question earlier--show me the rabbi.


But, in the words of a famous criminal law professor, on the udder hand.... You have this whole problem of the fact that sentencing proceedings demselves have a separate burden of proof, and that the Probation Department, which does pre-sentencing reports which take into account a defendant's entire social history, gets cut out of determining a just sentence, as does the defendant, who has the option of submitting his or her own report, and as does the Victim, who gets cut out of submitting a victim's impact statement. Steve Scaring was right in his criticism of Rice's plan, in my humble, just a dumb pol opinion. The DA's office is just one perspective on a crime. Funny, how Rice announces that she is goint to take on the entire judiciary, defense bar, and probation department in one fall swoop, and then announces that she is going to go after cops as well through her "police corruption unit."

Pretty soon, the only person left working in the Criminal Justice system will be Ms. Rice, her sister in law, and that funny looking lackey of hers from the Board of Elections. Funny this is that between the three of them, the department is probably already over budget, what with Suozzi's sales tax debacle, aided in part by his own policy to refuse to participate in the sales tax holiday.

[Guest 23]

Nassau probation is nothing but an arm of the DA's office under normal circumstances so if they are rebelling, she must have really managed to annoy them.

[Guest 23]

She really needs to motivate the cops, not attack them. I suspect that if you were an enterprising prosecutor, you could have a field day going through the NCPD which, to my knowledge, has never been the subject of even a cursory inquiry.

From there, you could have fun with the union, and the way that it has coopted the Legislature, or at least some portions of it, as well as the Republicans in days gone by.

Three years from now, with a great track record, and cops who are loyal to you because you appeal to their best instincts to be cops, then you can conduct a corruption investigation. But not now.

For the moment, she needs the cops on her side. She needs to motivate them to go after gangs, home invaders, guns...all of the nasty little surprises that are lurking for us in places like New Cassel, Mineola, New Hyde Park and other places where the first glimmering of an untroubled criminal underclass are beginning to appear.

I was a student at the only real law school in the pre-Abe days so I will quote contract law's little giant. In answer to the obvious question--how is she going to get it done? "Who knows?"

NONE OF YOUR REP ADA JOBS ARE A DIVINE RIGHT> GET OVER IT AND GET INTO PRIVATE NOW

Not even sure how to respond to such drivel....

[What Are You Reading]

and then announces that she is going to go after cops as well through her "police corruption unit."

She really needs to motivate the cops, not attack them. I suspect that if you were an enterprising prosecutor, you could have a field day going through the NCPD which,

It's the first major shift in policy since Rice took office last month. She's also promised changes in how the office addresses drunken driving and political corruption. NOT POLICE CORRUPTION. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO READ?

[Is her sister-in-law?]

Still on her payroll?

[Yo Prospect Ave]

...all of the nasty little surprises that are lurking for us in places like New Cassel, Mineola, New Hyde Park and other places where the first glimmering of an untroubled criminal underclass are beginning to appear

New Cassel? First glimmering? What turnip patch have you been living in for the last 3+ decades?

[Guest 23]

Ok, maybe it was a poor choice of words. The thought, however, is valid. If she's going after the cops first then there is going to be enormous trouble--a gang problem-- that can only be headed off by motivated cops.

If she has a party hack in her administration, she sure isn't going to make many cases in county government.

She may be aiming at the towns, at least the Republican ones, but the Nassau County pattern is to hedge your bets. Rest assured, the ones who are paying off in Hempstead and Oyster Bay are paying off in North Hempstead as well.

We'll see about her new plan when those cases are put on her desk and we'll see, as well, whether her handlers allow her to go after them.

Prospect Ave?

[Mrs. Adams]

[quote="Former ADA"]

THe central issue is that you cannot attract quality people to a prosecutors office by treating the ADAs like garbage, paying them nothing, and then firing them on a whim. [ /quote]

Wow, "Former ADA", you sound really smart. And you must be cool to be posting on a board like this. I thought this board was just for nerds, but I was wrong.

- Abigail

[Guest 23]

What's your point, Abigail?

[Mrs. Adams]

Oh, I guess I didn't really have a point, except to point out how cool it is to post on this board. And that Former ADAs who do so are cool too. And certainly are not nerds. Or Joaquin Phoenix.

Thanks for listening,
Abigail

[Mrs. Adams]

You know who else is cool? People who like the number 23.
As in "The 2-3." Good numbers both. It took me a minute to get that. Yes, very cool. And not at all nerdy.

Abby

Heard Ms. Rice is hiring more family members at exhorbitant salaries.

[Guest 23]

Names, please, and positions. Salaries would help, too.

Where have the DA's IT guys been? I haven't seen Gordon or Vitaly around lately.

[Not Guest 23]

Abigail,
guest 23 is not who you think he is. In fact, I am puzzled by the guest's reasoning for choosing the name. I think he may be an imposter to the real 23. Mr. Phoenix hasn't posted since, I think, the first page. Believe it or not, there are other people in this county interested in politics besides Mr. Phoenix and the sewer manager of Long Beach.

But this is a forum for people to discuss politics in the county so try not to discuss personal things. The personal conversations turn people off to the message board and it becomes a ranting space for the disenfranchised.

Anyone know who Rice hired to replace the folks she has fired?

Ironic how Rice is being castigated for bringing the Nassau DAs office into the 20th Century. The "reforms" are nothing more than things that have been done by New York County DA Morgenthau for decades. Nassau has been isolated in its parochial approach to prosecutions, both in the District Attorney's office as well as the courts. With the exception of Queens, another office that has taken the view that the laws that apply to the rest of the State don't apply there, Nassau was a bizarre anomoly and nobody seemed to notice.

As for the former ADAs, its way past time for some new blood. Contrary to the facile assumption that everything was great under Dillon, it was never a well regarded office. It cannot become like the Manhattan DAs office, as the draw of top notch talent will never be there. But it was stagnant, and it showed.

As for investigating, it is the DA's job to investigate everyone and anyone who needs investigating, whether they be politicians, cops or anyone else. If the idea that crime, no matter by whom it is committed, will be investigated bothers you, then I can only hope that Rice will be knocking on your door soon.

As for more trials, that's why they build courthouses. And if the judges have to work harder, that's not such a bad thing either. Everyone in the system should start working harder, and only when they do will the system fulfill its promise.

[Guest 23]

There was once a prosecutor named Maurice Nadjari who also believed that it was a prosecutor's job to investigate "everyone and anyone who needs investigating, whether they be politicians, cops or anyone else."

He too believed that if you questioned his motives that you were somehow corrupt and deserving of investigation yourself. By behaving as he did, he set back the ability of real prosecutors to investigate white collar crime substantially, since the Appellate Division, responding to a flood of genuine abuses, substantially hampered the ability of prosecutors and grand juries to move quickly.

I don't object to conducting serious, focused investigations or to having them go where the facts lead. I questioned the ability of the DA to conduct serious official corruption investigations when she has placed a party hack in the middle of her executive staff (which Robert Morgenthau would never have done) and by compromising herself by behaving like a Chicago pol during her first week in office by hiring her sister-in-law (which is another thing that Robert Morgenthau would never have done).

I suggested that if she is going to go after corrupt cops in Nassau (and I suspect that there is a lot to look for) she was going to have to establish some credibility, and that doing so would take time, so that the cops would ultimately feel a sense of loyalty or affinity to her and to her office that would outweigh their normal sense of solidarity among themselves.

And I suggested that, if genuinely talented ADA's were being fired, it would be useful to see if they were being replaced by hacks. Any office needs new blood. And not every prosecutor on Dillon's staff was a star. (I think that the impression that it was something of a backwater was an expression of jealousy by those of us who prosecuted cases in jurisdictions that were not blessed with Nassau County's juries, with their reliable votes.) But a prosecutors office also needs locally experienced trial ADA's. I suspect that if you asked him, Robert Morgenthau would probably admit that it was a mistake to break up the Manhattan DA's Homicide Bureau when he came into office, even if it was, as the sign over the door indicated "A Law Unto Itself".

If these things merited a tirade, then I suppose I should plead guilty. But I don't think they did.

[Yo Prospect Ave]

Props to Guest 23. Sounds like he has the ethical heart of another good ADA, The Iceman (Manhattan).

Hines did the same thing when he took over Brooklyn. At the time, everyone was screaming that he was politicizing the office, etc.

Right now, this sounds like more sour grapes. Transitions are always painful, but if she didn't make changes, people would be screaming too. So be it. A year from now, we'll see whether DA Rice did the right thing or is a political harlot. For now, it's all just sound and fury signifying nothing.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lirice0218,0,6896399.story?coll=ny-main-tabheads1

Hines did the same thing when he took over Brooklyn. At the time, everyone was screaming that he was politicizing the office, etc.

Right now, this sounds like more sour grapes. Transitions are always painful, but if she didn't make changes, people would be screaming too. So be it. A year from now, we'll see whether DA Rice did the right thing or is a political harlot. For now, it's all just sound and fury signifying nothing.

Hynes not a political animal? Give me a break. Hynes was a direct beneficiary of the racial politics in the 80s through his prosecutions of the Howard Beach kids. Hynes even wrote a book about the case, which he subtitled "Making the Case for Murder," when in reality he made the case for manslaughter.So yes, Hynes is a politician, but all District Attorneys are. And in the end, their assistants are political appointees, no matter how much believe in their hearts that the were hired solely on "merit." At the end of the day, an assistant in a district attorney's office serves at the pleasure of the DA, and the DA serves at the pleasure of the voting public.

The answer with respect to Rice and politics is already apparent. She demogogued her race for District Attorney, both with respect to her "plea bargaining rhetoric" and her distortions about the Roslyn School District scandal. She hired her sister in law for a $95,000 secretarial position, and has at least one purely political officer (the former Board of Elections chief) as a member of her senior staff. In addition, she worked for the lawyer for the Democratic primary while she campaigned, while living rent free. She was even able to substantially out fund raise her incumbent opponent even though she had only just recently left a federal government job in Philadelphia where political fundraising was proscribed.

Rice is scary because she is proof that journalists, consultants, and money can turn anyone into an elected official. Rice is in a position to do great injustice to people, at the behest of the Jay Jacobs -types of the world, because there will be no outcry from the press, only cheerleading. Although folks like Newsday should take heed with respect to Tom Suozzi's harrassment of the gentlemanly Jerry Kremer -- officials like Jay Jacobs, Suozzi, and Rice are a threat to everyone's liberty --- including their own.

[the blood feud]

I thought Hynes and Dillon hate each other. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Nassau DA's Office with Hynes people moving in... Are Dillon loyalists toast? What will happen to them?

I thought Hynes and Dillon hate each other. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Nassau DA's Office with Hynes people moving in... Are Dillon loyalists toast?

God, I hope so!

Hines did the same thing when he took over Brooklyn. At the time, everyone was screaming that he was politicizing the office, etc.

Right now, this sounds like more sour grapes. Transitions are always painful, but if she didn't make changes, people would be screaming too. So be it. A year from now, we'll see whether DA Rice did the right thing or is a political harlot. For now, it's all just sound and fury signifying nothing.

Hynes not a political animal? Give me a break. Hynes was a direct beneficiary of the racial politics in the 80s through his prosecutions of the Howard Beach kids. Hynes even wrote a book about the case, which he subtitled "Making the Case for Murder," when in reality he made the case for manslaughter.So yes, Hynes is a politician, but all District Attorneys are. And in the end, their assistants are political appointees, no matter how much believe in their hearts that the were hired solely on "merit." At the end of the day, an assistant in a district attorney's office serves at the pleasure of the DA, and the DA serves at the pleasure of the voting public.

The answer with respect to Rice and politics is already apparent. She demogogued her race for District Attorney, both with respect to her "plea bargaining rhetoric" and her distortions about the Roslyn School District scandal. She hired her sister in law for a $95,000 secretarial position, and has at least one purely political officer (the former Board of Elections chief) as a member of her senior staff. In addition, she worked for the lawyer for the Democratic primary while she campaigned, while living rent free. She was even able to substantially out fund raise her incumbent opponent even though she had only just recently left a federal government job in Philadelphia where political fundraising was proscribed.

Rice is scary because she is proof that journalists, consultants, and money can turn anyone into an elected official. Rice is in a position to do great injustice to people, at the behest of the Jay Jacobs -types of the world, because there will be no outcry from the press, only cheerleading. Although folks like Newsday should take heed with respect to Tom Suozzi's harrassment of the gentlemanly Jerry Kremer -- officials like Jay Jacobs, Suozzi, and Rice are a threat to everyone's liberty --- including their own.

Isn't Howard Beach Queens, not Brooklyn? Was Hynes an ADA in Queens before becoming DA in Brooklyn?

And agreed that Hynes is a political animal of the first degree. He prosecuted the woman who ran against him in '01!

[a history lesson 101]

Hines did the same thing when he took over Brooklyn. At the time, everyone was screaming that he was politicizing the office, etc.

Right now, this sounds like more sour grapes. Transitions are always painful, but if she didn't make changes, people would be screaming too. So be it. A year from now, we'll see whether DA Rice did the right thing or is a political harlot. For now, it's all just sound and fury signifying nothing.

Hynes not a political animal? Give me a break. Hynes was a direct beneficiary of the racial politics in the 80s through his prosecutions of the Howard Beach kids. Hynes even wrote a book about the case, which he subtitled "Making the Case for Murder," when in reality he made the case for manslaughter.So yes, Hynes is a politician, but all District Attorneys are. And in the end, their assistants are political appointees, no matter how much believe in their hearts that the were hired solely on "merit." At the end of the day, an assistant in a district attorney's office serves at the pleasure of the DA, and the DA serves at the pleasure of the voting public.

The answer with respect to Rice and politics is already apparent. She demogogued her race for District Attorney, both with respect to her "plea bargaining rhetoric" and her distortions about the Roslyn School District scandal. She hired her sister in law for a $95,000 secretarial position, and has at least one purely political officer (the former Board of Elections chief) as a member of her senior staff. In addition, she worked for the lawyer for the Democratic primary while she campaigned, while living rent free. She was even able to substantially out fund raise her incumbent opponent even though she had only just recently left a federal government job in Philadelphia where political fundraising was proscribed.

Rice is scary because she is proof that journalists, consultants, and money can turn anyone into an elected official. Rice is in a position to do great injustice to people, at the behest of the Jay Jacobs -types of the world, because there will be no outcry from the press, only cheerleading. Although folks like Newsday should take heed with respect to Tom Suozzi's harrassment of the gentlemanly Jerry Kremer -- officials like Jay Jacobs, Suozzi, and Rice are a threat to everyone's liberty --- including their own.

Isn't Howard Beach Queens, not Brooklyn? Was Hynes an ADA in Queens before becoming DA in Brooklyn?

And agreed that Hynes is a political animal of the first degree. He prosecuted the woman who ran against him in '01!


Get off the boards retard. Hynes was a special prosecutor in the State Attorney's Office when he handled the Howard Beach case because Al Sharpton was dissatisfied with the performance of the Queens DA. Read a book before writing dumb s*it, please.

[Guest 23]

Did anybody get fired on Friday, Feb. 17?

[Guest 23.6]

Was the Jaspan law firm listed as an in-kind or other contributor to the Rice campaign this year? If so, for how much?

What is Rice doing about this? Same as Dillon???

A Civilian in the NCPD has gotten away with HUNDREDS of days of unacoounted time.

Even after the DA invest, internal investigation, Comptroller audit, she continues to work. Why? ? ? ?

Close, intimitae ties with higher ups have a strong influence on any outcome.

They pick and choose to instill punishment on those they disliked in a obvious discriminate fashion (they profile and target).

It is acrid and foul how they operate and the Union does nothing. Unless an individual proceeds to a lawsuit, this continues unabated

[ready or not....]

Jaspan was the firm that pushed Rice to the top...organized her (the) outcome.

[Guest 23]

I know. And their senior partner, the one who is chief counsel to the Nassau County Democrat Party, has been heard (by me) to brag that he hired her and paid her to "run for district attorney." Which is why I asked if the Jaspan firm's contribution to her campaign was reported.

[Special Victims Unit]

Too consolidated and run by someone with the wrong experience for that job. What happened to former Sex Crimes Bureau Chief - JW? She was really good.

[4 I's]

What's Stein's role and his relationship w/ Schlesinger?

[Guest 23]

JW (those of us who had dealings with her know her full name) was fired. She was an excellent prosecutor. She deserved better.

[get use to this]

JW (those of us who had dealings with her know her full name) was fired. She was an excellent prosecutor. She deserved better.

sadly, you are learning just exactly how the suozzi/rice people roll. Wait about a year or two from now when the DA's office goes into the crapper with the rest of the county. At least Dillon kept things together in the Gulotta years.

[Too bad about JW]

In a way she's lucky to no longer be associated with that place just because its reputation is already going downhill fast. But it just goes to show you the decisions they are making have nothing to do with business. It's all politics all the time. But its true - nobody in a government job gets to a supervisor level without being political and everyone knows its not the most competent people getting to those levels. In fact, the ones who stay at the same organization for a long, long time - might climb higher by the sheer fact that they are there so long. But working in a government level job for so long has to say something about the person. This could be a blessing in disguise for the Dillon people. They will get to spread their wings and see how the other half live. Meanwhile look who Rice is hiring. People that have 10 years of experience in other government jobs and who never even managed to rise to higher levels in their own environment. Now she hires them to be Bureau Chief and they have no experience in Nassau County - with our Courts, our lawyers, our system or the People they are allegedly representing. And look at the County system's they are coming from. Like Queens is a model office? What happened over at the County Attorney's office is happening all over again in the DA's office. The problem is the GOP didn't get the message out loud enough or far enough and because Suozzi got re-elected, his people took that as a sanction for what they were doing to our County. I hope the GOP and SPITZER have learned the lesson and leave nothing to chance and get it all out and out loud and far. Problem is Spitzer is making the same mistake Mondello made - he's just ignoring Suozzi and his baggage and pretending like he doesn't matter. That's just the edge Suozzi needs to sneak up and clunk him on the head in the Primary - and then what?

[c o'donnell]

is he safe?

In a way she's lucky to no longer be associated with that place just because its reputation is already going downhill fast. But it just goes to show you the decisions they are making have nothing to do with business. It's all politics all the time. But its true - nobody in a government job gets to a supervisor level without being political and everyone knows its not the most competent people getting to those levels. In fact, the ones who stay at the same organization for a long, long time - might climb higher by the sheer fact that they are there so long. But working in a government level job for so long has to say something about the person. This could be a blessing in disguise for the Dillon people. They will get to spread their wings and see how the other half live. Meanwhile look who Rice is hiring. People that have 10 years of experience in other government jobs and who never even managed to rise to higher levels in their own environment. Now she hires them to be Bureau Chief and they have no experience in Nassau County - with our Courts, our lawyers, our system or the People they are allegedly representing. And look at the County system's they are coming from. Like Queens is a model office? What happened over at the County Attorney's office is happening all over again in the DA's office. The problem is the GOP didn't get the message out loud enough or far enough and because Suozzi got re-elected, his people took that as a sanction for what they were doing to our County. I hope the GOP and SPITZER have learned the lesson and leave nothing to chance and get it all out and out loud and far. Problem is Spitzer is making the same mistake Mondello made - he's just ignoring Suozzi and his baggage and pretending like he doesn't matter. That's just the edge Suozzi needs to sneak up and clunk him on the head in the Primary - and then what?


this is a very smart post. And yes, if Spitzer doesn't call Suozzi on his crap, then nobody will

[PhoenixRises]

Rice is cooked, she just doen't know it yet.

Ms. JW will be back..see ya Kathy.

JW (those of us who had dealings with her know her full name) was fired. She was an excellent prosecutor. She deserved better.

sadly, you are learning just exactly how the suozzi/rice people roll. Wait about a year or two from now when the DA's office goes into the crapper with the rest of the county. At least Dillon kept things together in the Gulotta years. it a shame Rice did not investigate Gulotta.

[Guest 23]

Many times, you'll find lawyers in a prosecutor's office who could easily serve as bureau chiefs but who never even look for the job. There are those lawyers who genuinely enjoy trying cases and will do that as often and for as long as they can. They will forego the raises that come with promotion, in order to avoid the bureaucratic crap that you have to deal with when you are a bureau chief. For that reason, it is, I think, a mistake to assume that a lawyer who has put in 10 years in a prosecutor's office, and is still a line ADA, has issues.

But I also think it's a mistake to bring in a whole array of newcomers to actually run an office. Part of being a bureau chief, as the previous poster noted, is knowing the territory and the quirks, strengths and weaknesses of the players. I can't believe that there were no line ADA's in the Nassau DA's office incapable of rising to take on a bureau. I suppose, though, that it's consistent with the general approach of the Suozzistas to running a government--import your "talent" from places where you can then bank favors.

Maybe it will work but, as far as I'm concerned the jury is still out.

JW (those of us who had dealings with her know her full name) was fired. She was an excellent prosecutor. She deserved better.

sadly, you are learning just exactly how the suozzi/rice people roll. Wait about a year or two from now when the DA's office goes into the crapper with the rest of the county. At least Dillon kept things together in the Gulotta years. it a shame Rice did not investigate Gulotta.


Rice needs to investigate herself, if you ask me. :lol:

[guest24]

Rice needs to have her SISTER IN LAW investigate everyone.

Now that's fair game.

Yeah, team!

[RETIREMENT PARTY]

Tonight is Dillion's retirement party at Leonard's of Great Neck at 7pm. Some 300 people are expected to show. Will you be there?

[Obsolete but expensive]

Perhaps Rice will recruit the county attorney's office from the family court bureau to go work in her special victim's unit. My dealings with the management there is that they belong there - in the DA's office and not in family court. Then they should wipe out the rest of the division and let the DSS agency lawyer's handle the family court work. Hire more civil service lawyers and stop appointing politicals to do the work. It will save money and save children. Let the DA send an ADA over to family court for the JD cases and let the DSS lawyers deal with the rest. The CA's office is obsolete and as useless as a pair of manola blanik shoes to a kindergarten english teacher.

[Lorna "Howya"]

Liz......come back Little Sheba to the CA office before I run for Supreme Court this year.

That was the deal., Im running and u left me. What shall we do? What can we do?

[That's why Liz bolted]

Why do you think Liz has been looking for another job for so long? She doesn't want to get stuck when the old hag drops off. Lorna will never get elected to the bench because her lawyers and her policies have made the office a joke around the courthouse and with the bar association memberships.

They should cut down the office and get rid of the management. How about hiring more civil service lawyers for the agencies and letting them handle their own work in-house? That would require 1) people who live in Nassau County being hired and 2) people smart enough to pass and score well on civil service tests and 3) bringing some independence to the agency and getting it out from out the rule of the county attorney and her bungling bunch of idiot policy makers and 4) paying attorneys civil service wages instead of the exhorbitant salary they now command under the auspices of the county attorney's office.

[Newsday very quiet]

Why was Newsday so quiet about the lawyer's salary and the office budget? When Newsday is quiet - you know there's nothing good that they can spin.

[Muscle Flexing]

Big bad Rice is making it tuff for DWI first time offenders to catch a break. DWI is, no doubt, a serious offense but there has to be some discretion and some independence of thought before you force a criminal record on someone who might not ever be in any other trouble his whole life. Bad judgment, bad decision - unfortunately - who hasn't, especially when young or at a happy hours or a party - taken a drink and driven? But for the grace of god - you were ok. Noone crashed into you - even though not your fault - that one accident - that one drink - that's DWI.

And it's a rap already virtually impossible for a criminal defense attorney to beat. Like a speeding ticket. SHe knows it. That's why she's picking on it.

Why not toughen up on some cases that are HARD to prosecute and win at trial -- like domestic violence cases. How come first time offenders get off with conditional discharges for intentionally beating the hell out of their wife or their girlfriend or a college coed ?

Criminal defense attorneys should ban together and bring her office to its knees - no pleas? Make her people TRY every case. Let's see how fast they fall.

"Criminal defense attorneys should ban together and bring her office to its knees - no pleas? Make her people TRY every case. Let's see how fast they fall."

Only problem is that, by adopting a categorical policy of refusing to plead guilty to anything, those defense lawyers would frequently be disregarding their clients' interests.

If you actually think you can win an acquittal at trial, by all means reject the plea bargain and go to trial. But, the fact is most cases are open and shut...the DA, even a mediocre one, will win most of those trials...(if the cop found the cocaine on you and you can't get the cocaine suppressed, what's your defense against the possession charge...if you offered an undercover cop oral sex for $100, what's your defense against the solicitation charge...if you're found with the money and the gun and the store clerk positively identifies you, what's your defense against the robbery charge)

A defendant convicted of the top charge at trial will SPEND MORE TIME IN JAIL than he would have by pleading guilty to a lesser charge. Remember, the lawyer's obligation is to his client, not to the DA's political opponents. He has to serve his client's best interests. If his client gets convicted and goes to jail, but the DA's office is over time rendered helpless and bankrupt by having to try so many cases and the DA ends up looking really bad...his client is still sitting in jail regardless of what happens to the DA.

And remember, in the case of privately retained lawyers, a lot of clients won't want to pay for a whole trial...especially on 1st offense misdemeanors where the plea involves no jail time at all.

[Where does Rice live?]

Has she gotten a place of her own yet, or is she still camping out in Mrs. Byers' garage? Or did she move back in with dad in Garden City?

Has she gotten a place of her own yet, or is she still camping out in Mrs. Byers' garage? Or did she move back in with dad in Garden City?

Get a life, its none of your fuc**n business where Rice reside.

[User 97580]

Yes it is- she is not even a taxpayer of Nassau County but has much influence over the taxes we pay here in Nassau county. Since she has took office she has hired ADA's her sister in law and others at astronomical salaries, What the hell does she care, she doesn't have to contribute to those salaries, she is not a homeowner, no real vested interest.

So get a clue before you tell someone it is none of their business MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you believe the gaul of Mr. Bill 'the snowman' Geier.

"Legislative Clerk William Geier, whose job was threatened during the recent unsuccessful coup aagainst Jacobs, GAVE HIMSELF A $9,240 RAISE TO A SALARY OF $104,000."


Well doesn't that beat all, here we are choking to pay our bills and this dis-barred lawyer gives himself a 10% raise.

It figures he is one of Pensso's mentors.

What was he dis-barred for anyway? Tell us Mineola Dem!

Hope tess brings home the foot fixer, my feet are so tires from walking all over the taxpayers.

regards from Billy G

To be fair, Bill G. can't singlehandedly give himself a raise. The Legislature has to approve it.

So does anyone know if she's gotten her own place yet or not?

[Eugene Gold]

So does anyone know if she's gotten her own place yet or not?

Yeah, she's shacking up with an old child molester.

[Perjurer]

How's her lawsuit going? She's a defendant in a perjury trial isn't she? Claims she forced a witness to testify falsely against an innocent man so she could get the conviction. What happens when a DA gets sentenced to do time? Does the next of kin take over?


Is Rice a lesbian? Just wondering if anyone heard.

How's her lawsuit going? She's a defendant in a perjury trial isn't she? Claims she forced a witness to testify falsely against an innocent man so she could get the conviction. What happens when a DA gets sentenced to do time? Does the next of kin take over?


Is Rice a lesbian? Just wondering if anyone heard.

You are one F-u-*-k-e -d up mess dude,

[of course she's a mess]

How's her lawsuit going? She's a defendant in a perjury trial isn't she? Claims she forced a witness to testify falsely against an innocent man so she could get the conviction. What happens when a DA gets sentenced to do time? Does the next of kin take over?


Is Rice a lesbian? Just wondering if anyone heard.

You are one F-u-*-k-e -d up mess dude,


Everyone who is in Nassau is a mess now that K-Rice is large and in charge.

Yes it is- she is not even a taxpayer of Nassau County but has much influence over the taxes we pay here in Nassau county. Since she has took office she has hired ADA's her sister in law and others at astronomical salaries, What the hell does she care, she doesn't have to contribute to those salaries, she is not a homeowner, no real vested interest.

So get a clue before you tell someone it is none of their business MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Mr. Moron, In case your not aware, Rice, is, a resident of Nassau County, pays taxes every time she makes a ourchase and pays rent, who she hires and fires is none of your Fn business, what shes doing you idiot is cleaning her house, its done by every new administration, you sound like one of those Dillon ADA losers who was let go, now take your meds.

[stop posting Ms. Rice]

Yes it is- she is not even a taxpayer of Nassau County but has much influence over the taxes we pay here in Nassau county. Since she has took office she has hired ADA's her sister in law and others at astronomical salaries, What the hell does she care, she doesn't have to contribute to those salaries, she is not a homeowner, no real vested interest.

So get a clue before you tell someone it is none of their business MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Mr. Moron, In case your not aware, Rice, is, a resident of Nassau County, pays taxes every time she makes a ourchase and pays rent, who she hires and fires is none of your Fn business, what shes doing you idiot is cleaning her house, its done by every new administration, you sound like one of those Dillon ADA losers who was let go, now take your meds.

That is the height of arrogance and irresponsibility - now that Kathleen Rice is the District Attoney, everything she does- from hiring her sister in law, to firing hardworking assistant district attorneys and hiring political hacks like Stein, is OUR business. For better or worse, Kathleen Rice's life is now an open book, and her every move in public office is now under the scrutiny and micromanagement of every resident of Nassau County - and beyond. If she can't stand the scrutiny, satire, and the unflattering political cartoons, she should get out of the business!

Yes it is- she is not even a taxpayer of Nassau County but has much influence over the taxes we pay here in Nassau county. Since she has took office she has hired ADA's her sister in law and others at astronomical salaries, What the hell does she care, she doesn't have to contribute to those salaries, she is not a homeowner, no real vested interest.

So get a clue before you tell someone it is none of their business MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Mr. Moron, In case your not aware, Rice, is, a resident of Nassau County, pays taxes every time she makes a ourchase and pays rent, who she hires and fires is none of your Fn business, what shes doing you idiot is cleaning her house, its done by every new administration, you sound like one of those Dillon ADA losers who was let go, now take your meds.

OK, so she pays rent...we're getting somewhere. Where? (Not looking for an address, just a town). Has she moved off the Byers estate, or did she start paying them rent?

[auctiongy]

Big bad Rice is making it tuff for DWI first time offenders to catch a break. DWI is, no doubt, a serious offense but there has to be some discretion and some independence of thought before you force a criminal record on someone who might not ever be in any other trouble his whole life. Bad judgment, bad decision - unfortunately - who hasn't, especially when young or at a happy hours or a party - taken a drink and driven? But for the grace of god - you were ok. Noone crashed into you - even though not your fault - that one accident - that one drink - that's DWI.

And it's a rap already virtually impossible for a criminal defense attorney to beat. Like a speeding ticket. SHe knows it. That's why she's picking on it.

Why not toughen up on some cases that are HARD to prosecute and win at trial -- like domestic violence cases. How come first time offenders get off with conditional discharges for intentionally beating the hell out of their wife or their girlfriend or a college coed ?

Criminal defense attorneys should ban together and bring her office to its knees - no pleas? Make her people TRY every case. Let's see how fast they fall.

Get a grip!

First, before bashing the DA for her no plea bargaining on DWI, keep in mind that you have to blow a .13 for that to happen. Second, Senator Fuschillo already passed legislation that lowered the legal limit from .10 to .08, which means you are more vulnerable to a DWI ticket because of Fuschillo than you are of jail time because of Rice.

Third, and most important, is the fact that if the 1st offender under this new plan sees some jail and that forces them to not drink and drive again, well, then, who knows, maybe the life that gets save from a DWI fatality could be one of your loved ones.

Let's stop criticizing those who decide that coddling, pandering and lowering standards is not the way to go in society.

It's like if all the fines were saddled with a $1,000 surcharge - whatever the normal fine is plus a $1,000 surcharge. You may think it's excessive, but if you're not talking on the cell phone, making illegal turns, speeding, or driving drunk, then for all you care the surcharge could be $10,000.

Big bad Rice is making it tuff for DWI first time offenders to catch a break. DWI is, no doubt, a serious offense but there has to be some discretion and some independence of thought before you force a criminal record on someone who might not ever be in any other trouble his whole life. Bad judgment, bad decision - unfortunately - who hasn't, especially when young or at a happy hours or a party - taken a drink and driven? But for the grace of god - you were ok. Noone crashed into you - even though not your fault - that one accident - that one drink - that's DWI.

And it's a rap already virtually impossible for a criminal defense attorney to beat. Like a speeding ticket. SHe knows it. That's why she's picking on it.

Why not toughen up on some cases that are HARD to prosecute and win at trial -- like domestic violence cases. How come first time offenders get off with conditional discharges for intentionally beating the hell out of their wife or their girlfriend or a college coed ?

Criminal defense attorneys should ban together and bring her office to its knees - no pleas? Make her people TRY every case. Let's see how fast they fall.

Get a grip!

First, before bashing the DA for her no plea bargaining on DWI, keep in mind that you have to blow a .13 for that to happen. Second, Senator Fuschillo already passed legislation that lowered the legal limit from .10 to .08, which means you are more vulnerable to a DWI ticket because of Fuschillo than you are of jail time because of Rice.

Third, and most important, is the fact that if the 1st offender under this new plan sees some jail and that forces them to not drink and drive again, well, then, who knows, maybe the life that gets save from a DWI fatality could be one of your loved ones.

Let's stop criticizing those who decide that coddling, pandering and lowering standards is not the way to go in society.

It's like if all the fines were saddled with a $1,000 surcharge - whatever the normal fine is plus a $1,000 surcharge. You may think it's excessive, but if you're not talking on the cell phone, making illegal turns, speeding, or driving drunk, then for all you care the surcharge could be $10,000.

As a Republican, I am shocked to say I have to agree. We bash her because she is too soft on certain crimes (Roslyn Schools, etc), her nepotism, and cronism, but she has finally made an attempt to live up to the DWI promise from her campaign. Will anything happen from it? Will the law change? Probably not. Will her new plea deals result in many more trials? Yes. Will her office win most of them? Probably not. But it is a start. The question though, is it all talk and no action? Time will tell.

[Only Time Will Tell]

Big bad Rice is making it tuff for DWI first time offenders to catch a break. DWI is, no doubt, a serious offense but there has to be some discretion and some independence of thought before you force a criminal record on someone who might not ever be in any other trouble his whole life. Bad judgment, bad decision - unfortunately - who hasn't, especially when young or at a happy hours or a party - taken a drink and driven? But for the grace of god - you were ok. Noone crashed into you - even though not your fault - that one accident - that one drink - that's DWI.

And it's a rap already virtually impossible for a criminal defense attorney to beat. Like a speeding ticket. SHe knows it. That's why she's picking on it.

Why not toughen up on some cases that are HARD to prosecute and win at trial -- like domestic violence cases. How come first time offenders get off with conditional discharges for intentionally beating the hell out of their wife or their girlfriend or a college coed ?

Criminal defense attorneys should ban together and bring her office to its knees - no pleas? Make her people TRY every case. Let's see how fast they fall.

Get a grip!

First, before bashing the DA for her no plea bargaining on DWI, keep in mind that you have to blow a .13 for that to happen. Second, Senator Fuschillo already passed legislation that lowered the legal limit from .10 to .08, which means you are more vulnerable to a DWI ticket because of Fuschillo than you are of jail time because of Rice.

Third, and most important, is the fact that if the 1st offender under this new plan sees some jail and that forces them to not drink and drive again, well, then, who knows, maybe the life that gets save from a DWI fatality could be one of your loved ones.

Let's stop criticizing those who decide that coddling, pandering and lowering standards is not the way to go in society.

It's like if all the fines were saddled with a $1,000 surcharge - whatever the normal fine is plus a $1,000 surcharge. You may think it's excessive, but if you're not talking on the cell phone, making illegal turns, speeding, or driving drunk, then for all you care the surcharge could be $10,000.

As a Republican, I am shocked to say I have to agree. We bash her because she is too soft on certain crimes (Roslyn Schools, etc), her nepotism, and cronism, but she has finally made an attempt to live up to the DWI promise from her campaign. Will anything happen from it? Will the law change? Probably not. Will her new plea deals result in many more trials? Yes. Will her office win most of them? Probably not. But it is a start. The question though, is it all talk and no action? Time will tell.


You're correct that actions speak louder than words. Much of Rice's plan involves things that are either none of her business or are legislative or administrative concerns. She has no jurisdiction over the civil penalties and license suspensions of the NYS DMV and she will be ineffective at best with respect to campaigning for enhanced DWI homicide statutes because that is an Albany problem. Rice seems to be reading from the Tom Suozzi playbook. I will blame Albany, and by implication the Assembly Democrats for the pathology in the law which makes it difficult to sentence a killer drunk driver to meaningful jail time. But, if you look at the past several DWI homicide articles in the papers, Ms. Rice and her people haven't even achieved the maximum jail time on the statutes which are already on the books.

And I wish to thank the Rice sympathizer who pointed out that it was the State Senate which pushed the enhancement of DWI laws, and not the Assembly.

Maybe the people of Nassau County love to elect jackass elected officials who like to pose for the newspapers and run around like wild chickens in Albany while things go to pot in Mineola. Maybe this is the new paradigm for excellence that the Mandarins of Melville known as the Newsday editorial board wish to impose upon the poor people of Long Island. It is amazing how Newsday loves Suozzi and Rice but bashes officials like Steve Levy who actually seem to be trying to do the right thing by the people.

[Only Time Will Tell]

Big bad Rice is making it tuff for DWI first time offenders to catch a break. DWI is, no doubt, a serious offense but there has to be some discretion and some independence of thought before you force a criminal record on someone who might not ever be in any other trouble his whole life. Bad judgment, bad decision - unfortunately - who hasn't, especially when young or at a happy hours or a party - taken a drink and driven? But for the grace of god - you were ok. Noone crashed into you - even though not your fault - that one accident - that one drink - that's DWI.

And it's a rap already virtually impossible for a criminal defense attorney to beat. Like a speeding ticket. SHe knows it. That's why she's picking on it.

Why not toughen up on some cases that are HARD to prosecute and win at trial -- like domestic violence cases. How come first time offenders get off with conditional discharges for intentionally beating the hell out of their wife or their girlfriend or a college coed ?

Criminal defense attorneys should ban together and bring her office to its knees - no pleas? Make her people TRY every case. Let's see how fast they fall.

Get a grip!

First, before bashing the DA for her no plea bargaining on DWI, keep in mind that you have to blow a .13 for that to happen. Second, Senator Fuschillo already passed legislation that lowered the legal limit from .10 to .08, which means you are more vulnerable to a DWI ticket because of Fuschillo than you are of jail time because of Rice.

Third, and most important, is the fact that if the 1st offender under this new plan sees some jail and that forces them to not drink and drive again, well, then, who knows, maybe the life that gets save from a DWI fatality could be one of your loved ones.

Let's stop criticizing those who decide that coddling, pandering and lowering standards is not the way to go in society.

It's like if all the fines were saddled with a $1,000 surcharge - whatever the normal fine is plus a $1,000 surcharge. You may think it's excessive, but if you're not talking on the cell phone, making illegal turns, speeding, or driving drunk, then for all you care the surcharge could be $10,000.

As a Republican, I am shocked to say I have to agree. We bash her because she is too soft on certain crimes (Roslyn Schools, etc), her nepotism, and cronism, but she has finally made an attempt to live up to the DWI promise from her campaign. Will anything happen from it? Will the law change? Probably not. Will her new plea deals result in many more trials? Yes. Will her office win most of them? Probably not. But it is a start. The question though, is it all talk and no action? Time will tell.


You're correct that actions speak louder than words. Much of Rice's plan involves things that are either none of her business or are legislative or administrative concerns. She has no jurisdiction over the civil penalties and license suspensions of the NYS DMV and she will be ineffective at best with respect to campaigning for enhanced DWI homicide statutes because that is an Albany problem. Rice seems to be reading from the Tom Suozzi playbook. I will blame Albany, and by implication the Assembly Democrats for the pathology in the law which makes it difficult to sentence a killer drunk driver to meaningful jail time. But, if you look at the past several DWI homicide articles in the papers, Ms. Rice and her people haven't even achieved the maximum jail time on the statutes which are already on the books.

And I wish to thank the Rice sympathizer who pointed out that it was the State Senate which pushed the enhancement of DWI laws, and not the Assembly.

Maybe the people of Nassau County love to elect jackass elected officials who like to pose for the newspapers and run around like wild chickens in Albany while things go to pot in Mineola. Maybe this is the new paradigm for excellence that the Mandarins of Melville known as the Newsday editorial board wish to impose upon the poor people of Long Island. It is amazing how Newsday loves Suozzi and Rice but bashes officials like Steve Levy who actually seem to be trying to do the right thing by the people.

[Guest Atty]

I find it very interesting that Ms Rice authorized a plea for a young lady appearing before Judge DanaJaffe in mid-February with a reading of .19 after a high speed police chase, pot etc. found in vehicle....and what plea did she get? Driving While Impaired and, of course, no jail time. Who was her attorney? Prominent firm who supported her campaign and played an important role in her successful run. How about that for hypocricy?

Defendant name and docket number, please? Or at least one of the two.

[Guest 23]

Give us the firm name too, and the name of the attorney who actually represented the defendant. It's all bs without concrete facts that can be looked up independently.

District Attorney Kathleen Rice is a blast of fresh air after 30 some years of Denis Dillon comfy couch do nothing about public official criminal misconduct and fraud! Also, throw-in DWI prosecution do nothing by Dillon's boys.

Professional critics and chronic complainers, weepers, moaners, and cryers are everywhere, particularly in a democracy. Kathleen Rice was elected legally and legitimately via the American electoral process. Now, give her a chance to do her thing. Don't pre-judge! Like any human, she'll make errors in judgement and in other ways. If she corrects them, and doesn't repeat them, great. If she continues to make the same errors, and comes-up with alibis to wrongfully defend the same errors, throw her out in the next election. Meantime, SHUSH! Be a listener! Be an observer!

District Attorney Kathleen Rice is a blast of fresh air after 30 some years of Denis Dillon comfy couch do nothing about public official criminal misconduct and fraud! Also, throw-in DWI prosecution do nothing by Dillon's boys.

Professional critics and chronic complainers, weepers, moaners, and cryers are everywhere, particularly in a democracy. Kathleen Rice was elected legally and legitimately via the American electoral process. Now, give her a chance to do her thing. Don't pre-judge! Like any human, she'll make errors in judgement and in other ways. If she corrects them, and doesn't repeat them, great. If she continues to make the same errors, and comes-up with alibis to wrongfully defend the same errors, throw her out in the next election. Meantime, SHUSH! Be a listener! Be an observer!

The above poster is right on target and says it all.

I find it very interesting that Ms Rice authorized a plea for a young lady appearing before Judge DanaJaffe in mid-February with a reading of .19 after a high speed police chase, pot etc. found in vehicle....and what plea did she get? Driving While Impaired and, of course, no jail time. Who was her attorney? Prominent firm who supported her campaign and played an important role in her successful run. How about that for hypocricy?

Provide a date, a name or a docket number. This could be valuable.

[real good job]

SHe's doing a good job. She was actually at a verdict yesterday . When was Dillon around for one? She was in the court room> cry all you want but the big bang happened and all the dinisours must go

[frank zarb fan]

District Attorney Kathleen Rice is a blast of fresh air after 30 some years of Denis Dillon comfy couch do nothing about public official criminal misconduct and fraud! Also, throw-in DWI prosecution do nothing by Dillon's boys.

Professional critics and chronic complainers, weepers, moaners, and cryers are everywhere, particularly in a democracy. Kathleen Rice was elected legally and legitimately via the American electoral process. Now, give her a chance to do her thing. Don't pre-judge! Like any human, she'll make errors in judgement and in other ways. If she corrects them, and doesn't repeat them, great. If she continues to make the same errors, and comes-up with alibis to wrongfully defend the same errors, throw her out in the next election. Meantime, SHUSH! Be a listener! Be an observer!

Oh please... her and her $95K administrative assistant sister in law make me wanna puke.

Public official criminal misconduct and fraud!! Make me laugh!! What about the investigation by the special investigations squad that was in progress for over a year when she took office? Did she cover it up? What about the current investigation of the Fire Marshal's office? We will wait and see..............

The Special Investigation Squad during the Denis Dillon administration would take years to investigate allegations of wrong doings of even Cinderella. Thanks to the Bureau Chief, the Squad would pass on prosecution.

That's why the new DA, Kathleen Rice, asked for the resignations of a few ADAs in that Squad including its Bureau Chief.

[hack buster]

The Special Investigation Squad during the Denis Dillon administration would take years to investigate allegations of wrong doings of even Cinderella. Thanks to the Bureau Chief, the Squad would pass on prosecution.

That's why the new DA, Kathleen Rice, asked for the resignations of a few ADAs in that Squad including its Bureau Chief.


And that is also why she hired Jacobs's operative and former Democratic BOE chief as one of her high ranking deputies.... c'mon... stop it, already. She just did the functional equivalent of hiring Steve Sabbeth.

The Special Investigation Squad during the Denis Dillon administration would take years to investigate allegations of wrong doings of even Cinderella. Thanks to the Bureau Chief, the Squad would pass on prosecution.

That's why the new DA, Kathleen Rice, asked for the resignations of a few ADAs in that Squad including its Bureau Chief.


And that is also why she hired Jacobs's operative and former Democratic BOE chief as one of her high ranking deputies.... c'mon... stop it, already. She just did the functional equivalent of hiring Steve Sabbeth.

She fired them because they had investigated Jeff Stein on at least 2 occasions. As a matter of fact they had an investigation open on him only days before she took office.

[learning from the master]

Interesting post. Too bad folks like Kathleen Rice and Jeff Stein seem to be above the law, if what you are saying is true, and that Rice could fire people who investigated a crony without any blow back or even critique. Maybe Rice learned this from watching her former boss allegedly put the squeeze on an investigation of an assistant with tax and gambling problems. Gotta love those Brooklyn ethics of the Nassau County Democrats.

[JSTEIN71]

INVESTIGATE ME PLEASE!

[Guest 23]

If they were, and the plug got pulled, then they should go public. They could go to the U.S. Attorney if they wanted to. I believe they could also go to the County Legislature, which has independent investigative powers. Granted, Judy Jacobs would probably not allow much movement, but if they had anything resembling facts, I can't imagine the Republicans being quiet about it.

[Striptease Stein]

Maybe Kathleen can send Stein on a conference so he can get more lapdances paid for by the county.

The place to go is SPITZER...but not yet!

[Guest 23]

Spitzer would not have any independent authority to conduct an investigation into corruption allegations in Nassau County. The Governor can appoint a special prosecutor, and place that special prosecutor under the authority of the Attorney General, but that is the only way.

[odds man]

Spitzer would not have any independent authority to conduct an investigation into corruption allegations in Nassau County. The Governor can appoint a special prosecutor, and place that special prosecutor under the authority of the Attorney General, but that is the only way.


Looks like a 2/3 shot at a special prosecutor in Nassau then. Unless Suozz becomes the Gov. Then that one dies. Good post guest23

[Want the same deal]

I find it very interesting that Ms Rice authorized a plea for a young lady appearing before Judge DanaJaffe in mid-February with a reading of .19 after a high speed police chase, pot etc. found in vehicle....and what plea did she get? Driving While Impaired and, of course, no jail time. Who was her attorney? Prominent firm who supported her campaign and played an important role in her successful run. How about that for hypocricy?

Could my clients get the same deal????????????????Or do I have to tell them they will lose their car, go to jail, plus probation, etc.

[Dismayed Observer]

DA Rice yesterday terminated Fred Klein, the head of the Major Offense Bureau, and Frank Lanzo, the head of the District Court Bureau. I recognize that a new DA has the right to appoint people who "share her vision," whatever that is. However, Klein and Lanzo are both good, apolitical prosecutors who do not deserve summary terminations. They have done a lot for the County-it is unfortunate that DA Rice is oblivious to this. I think she could benefit from some mentoring by Tom Spota.

[Marc,]

Who is Cinderella...? Was that the blond (former) Assemblywomen (now NYS Ins Com) / girl friend of Dillon's bestest friend Joe M.


The Special Investigation Squad during the Denis Dillon administration would take years to investigate allegations of wrong doings of even Cinderella. Thanks to the Bureau Chief, the Squad would pass on prosecution.

That's why the new DA, Kathleen Rice, asked for the resignations of a few ADAs in that Squad including its Bureau Chief.

[Dismayed Observer]

What does that have to do with the termination of Fred Klein? He is a superb prosecutor who prosecuted may difficult homicide cases. Even if Special Investigations need an overhaul, that does not explain the terminations of Fred Klein and Frank Lanzo, neither of whom ever worked in SI.

[Never Blinks]

I don't trust Rice, because the only people Suozzi places into positions of power are those who will be doing something to protect him or further his personal interests. On the other hand Dillon's office was basically corrupt due to the well-known fact that they NEVER prosecuted a corrupt politition under ANY circumstances. Ask any bureau chief. However, it was not the fault of the bureau chiefs, it was Dillon himself who never let them go after nassaus corrupt politicians, even when the office had the goods on them. I don't think Rice will be any better except that she might go after crooked politicians if, and only if, Suozzi has no objection.

[guest 10.7]

Rice is cooked, she just doen't know it yet.

Ms. JW will be back..see ya Kathy.

Does anyone know how to find JW? I need an honest attorney now.

I have little connection with the da's office and a lot of info about seniors in Nassau who get nothing from the DA. Also, CSEA members get screwed regularly by thier union, Can a DA's office help us?

[Lucky Fred]

Stop your whining about Klein and Watson and all the rest of them. Yes, they were good attorneys. Yes, they were dedicated. But so what? This is a political office just like the County Attorney and all the posts of Commissioner and their Deputies. Nobody cares about merit here. The ones getting fired now are lucky because their misery won't be dragged out. Today, tomorrow or a year or two from now - they would be fired eventually. Why? Because they aren't one of THEM. It's that simple. Either you are a spineless whimpy manipulative liar who can wade between two concurrent administrations by bending over and kissing ass and pretending to be something you're not --- or you can't. Much to their credit - the ones getting fired couldn't. It would kill them to work in the new environment so this is better. It's time for them to move on and one day - these new people will also be out on the rearends and the cycle will repeat. These people getting fired now are lucky they got as long of a run as they got. Very unusual in politics.

[Disgusted!]

You have got to be kidding me- The DA's Office should remain non-political- THE WAY IT WAS UNDER DENIS DILLON! None of his ADA's were allowed to get involved in politics and that is the way it should remain- That is what is best for Nassau County-it helps keep the office fair and balanced, getting rid of ADA's like, Fred Klein, Bob Biancavilla, Frank Schroeder and Joy Watson is a disgrace and the citizens of Nassau County are the ones that are going to suffer. Thanks to the morons who voted for Kathleen Rice. They wanted change and I guess thanks to them we are getting change for the worse. How you get rid of ADA's that put away almost 100% of murderers is beyond me- There is no excuse other than stupidity!

[Grilli Vanilli]

Like me and Barbara and my daughter-all on the food line!

[your not kidding]

on the food line it looks like they ate the food line

[Demosthenes]

Watson and Klein, arguably the two most accomplished prosecutors in the office were too much of a threat to Rice's inflated resume, lightweight litigation skills and non-existent managerial skills.

They'll be fine, while Rice will barely keep her head above water during her solo term.

Bottom line; the people of Nassau will not be well served by the Rice tenure.

Mostly flash, too little substance.

[Cicero on Nepotism]

Watson and Klein, arguably the two most accomplished prosecutors in the office were too much of a threat to Rice's inflated resume, lightweight litigation skills and non-existent managerial skills.

They'll be fine, while Rice will barely keep her head above water during her solo term.

Bottom line; the people of Nassau will not be well served by the Rice tenure.

Mostly flash, too little substance.

Are you kidding? How could you say that? She hired her in-law to a decent paying job in her office. That person must be very talented or else Ms. Rice would not have hired her - right?

Speaking of flash, I haven't seen any leg pics of the DA in Newsday recently. Why? Her hot legs compensate for her large size forehead.

Wha da ya mean? She's no longer walking up and down Ol Country Rd showing the world wha she's made of. That's da only thing she's good for.

Rice has strong ties to Sen. Clinton. The majority of her run for office was funded by friends of Clinton. Now she has to pay that favor back and dole out jobs to her own and Clinton's cronies. Its a dirty business and some good dedicated attorneys have taken the fall in recent months.

District Attorney Kathleen Rice is a blast of fresh air after 30 some years of Denis Dillon comfy couch do nothing about public official criminal misconduct and fraud! Also, throw-in DWI prosecution do nothing by Dillon's boys.



Maybe a change was needed but that blast of fresh air is turning out to be a nightmare. She is the wrong person for this job.

[Snoozday Every other Day]

I think this letter to Snoozeday sums it up in one tidy little ball........



DA firings ruin office credibility

As a former deputy bureau chief in the Nassau County district attorney's office, now retired and in private practice after 32 years of public service, I am saddened to learn of the wave of firings that have taken place in my former office ["Top attorney fired by DA," News, June 9]. There have been many reasons for my pride in the district attorney's office. The most significant by far was that former District Attorney Denis Dillon established a professional, nonpartisan and meritorious office. Today, this achievement, which took years to build, has been destroyed upon the altar of political expediency.

The goal of a professional district attorney's office is to have nonpolitical, experienced and effective assistant district attorneys. The public good is best served by an office that encourages career-minded prosecutors.

The firings of meritorious and nonpolitical lawyers has caused an upheaval of monumental proportions. First, these dedicated lawyers who have chosen to become prosecutors and their families, have suffered. Second, their knowledge and experience is now lost, and the community must pay the price. Third, the professional, nonpartisan meritorious office is now a thing of the past. The loss of these prosecutors sends a clear message that one cannot make a career of public service in the district attorney's office.

Ronald L. Schoenberg

Editor's note: The writer is a former deputy chief of the District Court Bureau of the Nassau district attorney's office.

Mineola

rice 's gotta secret weapon for her sagging office, she's got einst*in to keep her on the straight and narrow, he'll be a big help to her re-election.

Working in the Nassau DA's office you will get to know the term "firing firdays" . Rice is obligated to the people that funded her. A change may have been needed but the things she is doing to hard working dedicated ADA's is wrong. these people can make a ton of money in the private sector but they believe in their job. She is one term and is wrecking a good DA office. She is the wrong person for the change.

[Jim Steinman]

what do you expect, the very first thing she does is employ JLines, who's runnin the show there?