Manhattan prosecutors ‘flooding the exits’ as woke DA Alvin Bragg attempts to enact radical reforms 

Controversial woke Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is seeing a mass resignation from his prosecutors over his soft-on-crime policies. 

Bragg has spent most of his first month in office under fire over his approach, which include calling on prosecutors to ditch felony armed robbery charges and instead charge suspects with petit larceny and not seeking carceral sentences for criminals. 

At least a dozen lawyers have quit Bragg’s office in the first two weeks of Bragg’s term.

‘I know one [ADA] who was with the office over 20 years who left without a job,’ a law enforcement source told the New York Post. ‘They didn’t want to work in this kind of office. They wanted to continue prosecuting the law.’ 

Perhaps the most high profile departure is Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, who successfully prosecuted sex pest Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. 

Illuzi-Orbon had been in the Manhattan DA’s office since 1988, save for a leave in 2015 when she unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for District Attorney of Staten Island.  

John Irwin, formerly a trial division chief, is among the other quitters, while a veteran prosecutor was told she was being demoted and would have to work under a hire Bragg made from the nonprofit Legal Aid Society.  

‘He wants to get rid of all the senior people who prosecuted high-profile cases and replace them with young inexperienced people who think like him and don’t want to uphold the law,’ said one former prosecutor.

All of the departures are cases of prosecutors quitting, as Bragg has yet to fire anyone.

Similar scenarios have played out in other cities where so-called progressive DA’s have risen to power.

Two prosecutors have quit their jobs in the San Francisco District Attorney’s office – and are now joining an effort to recall Chesa Boudin.  

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner dismissed at least 30 people from his office on his first day.  

Overall, crime has gone up 30 percent in citywide through that same date.   

Under Bragg’s new soft-on-crime approach, robberies are directed to be prosecuted as petit larceny if no victim was wounded and there was ‘no risk of physical harm’. 

However, the manager of the Duane Reade said that she feared for her life and didn’t want to go back to work, according to the New York Post.  

Former Bronx prosecutor and defense lawyer Michael Discioarro said that Bragg is doing a huge disservice to this woman.  

‘He just ignored the victim,’ Manhattan defense lawyer Michael Discioarro said of Bragg. ‘He’s telling the victim: You don’t deserve protection from the state.’ 

Meanwhile, prostitution, turnstile jumping, weapons possession (of non-firearms) and marijuana possession won’t be prosecuted at all under Bragg.

A former Manhattan DA called Bragg’s policies ‘an affront to every law-abiding citizen.’ 

‘Violent criminals now have carte blanche to re-offend, knowing full well that they will never again sniff the inside of a jail cell,’ added former Manhattan assistant DA Daniel Ollen 

‘If you thought things couldn’t get any worse, think again. God help us.’  

Bragg was elected Manhattan DA in November after winning a crowded primary in June.  

Drug dealers will not be prosecuted for felony crimes unless they commit other offenses on top of drug dealing, and prison should be a ‘last resort’ – despite the mounting number of violent crimes being committed on the streets of New York by repeat offenders who have been let out of jail early. 

NYPD unions, New York Republicans and angry residents were left dumbfounded amid growing fears that the crime-ravaged city will experience the same fate as other progressive-run bastions on the West Coast that have been plagued by looting and lawlessness.   

The Police Benevolent Association president Patrick J. Lynch, who leads the nearly 24,000-member union, said that has ‘serious concerns’ over the new policies.

‘Police officers don’t want to be sent out to enforce laws that the district attorneys won’t prosecute.

‘There are already too many people who believe that they can commit crimes, resist arrest, interfere with police officers and face zero consequences.’

The union chief said he hoped that Bragg would sit down with the leaders from his union to discuss the changes. 

‘We must all pull together towards one goal: a safer New York City.’ 

Business leaders have previously feared that these new policies could have detrimental effect on Manhattan’s economy.

‘New York City’s quality of life must remain competitive if we are to lure back office workers and tourists,’ Jessica Walker, president of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce said. ‘The district attorney’s stance against prosecuting certain low-level crimes may undermine both the perception and the reality that ours is a safe big city.’

NYGOP Chairman Nick Langworthy called the policy ‘pure insanity’.  

‘This policy is pure insanity by a Soros-funded, woke DA who is opening the door for even more crime and chaos on New York City streets. 

‘This, on top of Democrats’ end to cash bail, will have deadly results and send even more residents, businesses and tourists fleeing. 

‘This is a damning reminder that elections have consequences,’ he told DailyMail.com.  

It was a shock to some of those who voted for Adams on his promise that he would crack down on the city’s worsening crime problem. 

The new mayor has not commented on the criticism of Bragg’s memo.   

Last week, Bragg tried to offer reassurances that he would only let non-violent criminals who stole ‘toothpaste’ or ‘bread’.  

‘We will be tough when we need to be, but we will not be seeking to destroy lives through unnecessary incarceration.  

‘In practical terms that means: I’ve prosecuted gun cases and if you use a gun to rob a store, or any armed robbery, you will be prosecuted. I’ve prosecuted cases involving assaulting law enforcement, and if you punch a police officer, you will be prosecuted.

‘But if you are houseless with an addiction problem and you steal toothpaste and some bread, you will be diverted for treatment to help break the cycle of recidivism.’ 

He did not clarify the extent to which the criminals would be prosecuted, or if he would seek jail term for them. 

Some expressed concern over Bragg’s ability to unilaterally decide which laws will or will not be enforced. The critics argue prosecutors ‘must be allowed discretion,’ but not the authority to change entire sections of penal code on their own.

Others allege his apparent looser stance on crime is surprising given he grew up in Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood in the 1980s, during an endemic time of ‘crack violence’ and ‘crack turf war-related bloodshed’.

The violence extended beyond drug dealers, with many residents sheltering their children in bathtubs to protect them from stray bullets that would shoot through the walls, the New York Post reported.

Critics contend, given Bragg grew up in that time of violence – which was significantly worse than today’s crime levels – that he should want to hold criminals accountable for their actions and protect public order.  

But others familiar with his upbringing tell DailyMail.com that he actually enjoyed quite a cushy existence, and should stop distorting his past to justify reforms that would keep all but the most serious felons out of jail.

Bragg, the first black Manhattan DA, grew up in Harlem but on one of the safest blocks around, an upper middle-class enclave of brownstones known as Strivers Row, and since age 4 commuted to the elite Trinity School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side – details he conveniently leaves out when he makes his case.

‘He’s made his biography his moral compass, making it seem like there’s something magic about his life story that gives him the wisdom to establish policies that affect over one million people,’ one insider told DailyMall.com. ‘I’m not saying he hasn’t experienced racism, but there’s lots of privilege he leaves out of his story.’

Critics also argue Bragg’s policies directly conflict with the views and goals of the newly-elected mayor. 

However, new Mayor Eric Adams endorsed Bragg for Manhattan prosecutor and claimed last week that his policies would help reduce crime. 

Adams was an attractive choice for many voters because of his repeated promises to crack down on crime and bring back plain clothes units to disband gangs and tackle gun violence. 

In July 2021 – before they were elected – Bragg and Adams joined famed civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton at the National Action Network rally in New York.

Adams, at the time, said he saw his role as mayor as making ‘Bragg’s job boring’.

‘Prosecution rates is [sic] tied to my educational failure rates, Adams said, according to NewsOne. ‘If I do my job right, then he will have nothing to do in this office.’

Bragg added: ‘The state has the power to take away someone’s liberty. We are going to use that power judiciously and wisely. We’re going to use that for fairness and for safety.’

Bragg was elected thanks in part to the Color of Change super PAC, a political action committee that received $1million from Democratic super-donor Soros.

Soros has funneled millions into the successful campaigns of other progressive district attorneys across the country.  

The billionaire, one of the most prolific Democratic donors, is most known for giving to Presidents Clinton and Obama but he has also been pumping money into a far-left effort to overhaul the criminal justice system which critics say is creating a lawless America.  

In addition to Bragg, Soros has also funded campaigns of Los Angeles’ George Gascon, Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner and Chicago’s Kim Foxx. 

The perp is being represented by the Legal Aid Society, which said in a statement that Rolon ‘is a prime example of a person in need of treatment and resources, not incarceration.’ 

‘Jail and prison only create a vicious cycle of incarceration and only serve to exacerbate root cause issues and to detract from public safety,’ the statement added.