A Democratic Socialists of America-backed public defender operating for a state Meeting seat in Harlem needs to ship convicted rapists, baby molesters and murderers to “therapy packages” as an alternative of prisons.
Conrad Blackburn, who’s making an attempt to unseat first-term incumbent Assemblyman Jordan Wright, insisted throughout a March 2024 podcast look that locking individuals up isn’t the reply — even when they’re convicted for severe crimes like “predatory sexual assaults of kids” and murder.
“Even when, like, the shopper is responsible as f–king sin, I nonetheless don’t assume that the punishment, like, meets what occurred,” stated Blackburn, a employees lawyer for nonprofit Bronx Defenders, on the “Brothers In Regulation” podcast he co-hosts.
“I nonetheless don’t assume that individual deserves to be thrown in a cage and locked away for the remainder of their life.”
“In order that’s how I come at these instances. It’s like cool, this individual did possibly … one thing dangerous to any person,” he added. ”However, like, what are we gonna do about that? … I don’t assume it’s jail.”
In a March 2025 episode, Blackburn — a socialist who has gushed about his reverence for Karl Marx and Che Guevara — doubled down, suggesting those that shoot and kill harmless bystanders throughout gang-related feuds shouldn’t routinely be tossed in jail.
“I believe what we envision is a few kind of separation for society,” he stated. “One which doesn’t must seem like a cage … Possibly neighborhood supervision, proper? Included in that courses for this particular person to know why what he did harmed society.”
Each he and different co-hosts urged so-called “jail abolitionists” to take part on juries so they may vote to acquit somebody — no matter proof.
In a January 2025 episode, Blackburn claimed society’s “urge for food” for “abolishing police” is stronger than its want to abolish prisons, and thinks most people is extra “open-minded” about eliminating jails than most individuals assume.
“It simply must be packaged and dealt to individuals in a means that’s comprehensible to them,” he stated.
Critics bashed his twisted left-wing ideology.
“Harlem doesn’t want an elected official who imagine rapists and murderers ought to go to class as an alternative of going to jail,” stated former Metropolis Councilwoman and state Assemblywoman Inez Dickens (D-Manhattan).
“It sends the unsuitable message to criminals that Harlem is their playground and nobody is protected. There’s nothing progressive about excusing violence or being out of contact with the realities our communities face.”
Reverend Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardener of Memorial Baptist Church stated “the felony justice system is damaged — particularly for black and brown households who bear the brunt of violence and are too usually denied justice” — and that “the worldview put ahead by Conrad Blackburn would make it even worse.”
“If he had his means, murders and rapes would soar in Harlem, making our households, our sons, and daughters much less protected,” he stated.
“As a Harlem pastor who has buried kids with their households, comforted survivors of rape, and prayed with moms who by no means bought their day in courtroom, I refuse to face by whereas a would‑be chief treats their struggling as collateral injury.”
“As somebody who has labored carefully with survivors of violence for years, I imagine there have to be ethical readability in terms of rape,” stated Harlem activist Jackie Rowe-Adams. “Survivors deserve leaders who perceive that the punishment matches the crime and deters extra violence.”
Blackburn, in the meantime parroted socialist speaking factors in a questionnaire he crammed out earlier than securing the DSA NYC chapter’s help, saying crime “itself” is a solely a social “assemble” as a result of “our legal guidelines have been created by wealthy white individuals.”
Mayor Mamdani, a fellow DSA member, overwhelmingly gained Harlem in final 12 months’s mayoral election – making Wright’s 70th Meeting district seat one of many state Legislative seats socialists imagine they’ll take from conventional Democrats.
Mamdani, nonetheless, hasn’t meddled within the race – largely as a result of Wright’s father, former Assemblyman Keith Wright, is the boss of the Manhattan Democratic Celebration and wields main affect.
Blackburn declined to remark.
