NYC DA Alvin Bragg Sees Falling Conviction Rates As Public Access To Data Is Pulled

NYC DA Alvin Bragg Sees Falling Conviction Rates As Public Access To Data Is Pulled
Left-wing, soft-on-crime Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

By Fiona McCloughlin

The conviction rate of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has dropped significantly since he took office yet information remains hard to find as the DA’s office put its data dashboard “under construction.”

Thirty-five percent of felony cases ended in convictions in 2024, down from the 37 percent reported in 2023, the New York Post (NYP) reported, citing data from the state Division of Criminal Justice. In 2022 and 2021, the conviction rates were 40 percent and 42 percent respectively. In 2019, 64 percent of felonies resulted in a conviction, the Post reported.

Bragg was sworn in to office in 2022 and made history as the first black Manhattan DA.

The outlet found that 66 percent of the time that the prosecutor’s office won a conviction, the charge was then downgraded to a non-criminal violation or a misdemeanor.

The number of felony cases that Bragg has refused to prosecute has increased since he assumed office. The number rose from seven percent in 2022 to 12 percent in 2024, the NYP reported.

Records found that misdemeanor convictions also decreased, dropping to 17 percent in 2024 from 24 percent in 2022, the outlet noted. Data reportedly indicated Bragg decided not to prosecute 31 percent of misdemeanors in 2024, up from nine percent in 2022 and 19 percent in 2023.

“These outcomes are by design,” Rafael Mangual, a legal fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told the NYP. “Bragg’s philosophy is that incarceration should be the last resort. And he won’t even pursue prison terms beyond 20 years, irrespective of the offense.” (RELATED: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg To Send Only Certain Criminals To Prison)

The Manhattan DA’s data website shows it is “under construction” and has been since October, according to the Post.

“This site is under construction as we work to improve our data reporting and contextualize criminal justice trends over time,” the website says.

A DA spokesperson told the NYP that Bragg is working alongside DAs in other boroughs on how to present the data.

“The Manhattan DA’s office is committed to enhancing transparency in the criminal justice system,” the website reportedly stated before it was taken down. “Our data dashboard, the first in New York State, provides the public with comprehensive data about our office’s prosecutions.”

“This is exactly the wrong time to take that tool away from the public, as we come into an election year and they try to evaluate whether that’s the direction they want the DA’s office to be moving,” Mangual told the Post.

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