a January 2025 episode<\/a>, Blackburn claimed society\u2019s \u201cappetite\u201d for \u201cabolishing police\u201d is stronger than its desire to abolish prisons, and thinks the general public is more \u201copen-minded\u201d about getting rid of jails than most people think.<\/p>\n\u201cEven if, like, the client is guilty as f\u2013king sin, I still don\u2019t think that the punishment, like, meets what happened,\u201d said Blackburn in 2024 during a podcast he co-hosts. \u201cI still don\u2019t think that person deserves to be thrown in a cage and locked away for the rest of their life.\u201d YouTube \/ Half Way Up<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just has to be packaged and dealt to people in a way that is understandable to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Critics bashed his twisted left-wing ideology.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlem doesn\u2019t need an elected official who believe rapists and murderers should go to class instead of going to jail,\u201d said former City Councilwoman and state Assemblywoman Inez Dickens (D-Manhattan).<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sends the wrong message to criminals that Harlem is their playground and no one is safe. There is nothing progressive about excusing violence or being out of touch with the realities our communities face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reverend Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardener of Memorial Baptist Church said \u201cthe criminal justice system is broken \u2014 especially for black and brown families who bear the brunt of violence and are too often denied justice\u201d \u00a0\u2014 and that \u201cthe worldview put forward by Conrad Blackburn would make it even worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he had his way, murders and rapes would soar in Harlem, making our families, our sons, and daughters less safe,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Blackburn is trying to unseat Assemblyman Jordan Wright (left), the son of Manhattan Democratic Party boss and former Assemblyman Keith Wright . James Keivom<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Harlem pastor who has buried children with their families, comforted survivors of rape, and prayed with mothers who never got their day in court, I refuse to stand by while a would\u2011be leader treats their suffering as collateral damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who has worked closely with survivors of violence for years, I believe there must be moral clarity when it comes to rape,\u201d said Harlem activist Jackie Rowe-Adams. \u201cSurvivors deserve leaders who understand that the punishment fits the crime and deters more violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blackburn, meanwhile parroted socialist talking points in a questionnaire he filled out before securing the DSA NYC chapter\u2019s support, saying crime \u201citself\u201d is a only a social \u201cconstruct\u201d because \u201cour laws were created by rich white people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conrad Blackburn is public defender with the Bronx Defenders nonprofit group. Tomas E. Gaston<\/p>\n
Mayor Mamdani, a fellow DSA member, overwhelmingly won Harlem in last year\u2019s mayoral election \u2013 making Wright\u2019s 70th\u00a0Assembly district seat one of the state Legislative seats socialists believe they can take from traditional Democrats.<\/a><\/p>\nMamdani, however, hasn\u2019t meddled in the race \u2013 in large part because Wright\u2019s father,\u00a0former Assemblyman Keith Wright, is the boss of the Manhattan Democratic Party and wields major influence. <\/p>\n
Blackburn declined to comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Democratic Socialists of America-backed public defender running for a state Assembly seat in Harlem wants to send…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4866,1091,10332,469,3130,94577,57,238,9,11,10,49,17566,51,50,87,3018,58,82],"class_list":["post-241650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-democratic-primary","tag-democratic-socialists-of-america","tag-endorsements","tag-harlem","tag-jail","tag-keith-wright","tag-metro","tag-murders","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-assembly","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-politics","tag-rape","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}