Correction Captains', Wardens' Unions Tap Snyder As DA Choice

LESLIE CROCKER SNYDER: Jail unions like her style.

The Correction Captains Association and the Assistant Deputy Wardens/ Deputy Wardens Association have endorsed Leslie Crocker Snyder for Manhattan District Attorney, citing her commitment to law-enforcement during her tenure as a judge.

"It was a no-brainer given her long history of supporting law-enforcement," said Correction Captains Association President Patrick Ferraiuolo. "We believe that she will make an excellent Manhattan DA. She's tough but fair."

'Tough and Pro-Law-Enforcement'

Assistant Deputy Wardens/Deputy Wardens Association President Sidney Schwartzbaum said, "Leslie Crocker Snyder, along with her Manhattan Supreme Court predecessors Judges Edwin Torres and Harold Rothwax, were by far the toughest judges on serious criminal acts to preside over Manhattan cases in the last 30 years.

"Leslie Crocker Snyder is law-enforcement's most ardent supporter. She has also been the recipient of several serious death threats leveled against her while she was in-service to the citizens of New York," he said.

Mr. Ferraiuolo said he was impressed by Ms. Snyder's response to a question of how to handle inmates who commit crimes while incarcerated. She said that when the crimes are serious in nature, the courts should consider running sentences consecutively instead of the current practice of concurrent sentences. "That's a policy that we'd like to see enforced," said Mr. Ferraiuolo.

Mr. Schwartzbaum said, "It is with great alacrity that we endorse the candidacy of Leslie Crocker Snyder," whose name "invoked fear in the minds of criminal defendants convicted of serious crimes presided over by Judge Snyder."

Ms. Snyder is running against Cyrus Vance Jr. and Richard Aborn in a race to succeed Robert M. Morgenthau, who is retiring after nine terms as Manhattan DA. All three candidates once were prosecutors under Mr. Morgenthau. Ms. Snyder served as a Criminal Court Judge and as a Justice on the Court of Claims. She ran against Mr. Morgenthau in 2005 and was handily defeated. Mr. Morgenthau has endorsed Mr. Vance to succeed him.

Ms. Snyder has received many lawenforcement union endorsements, including those of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association, the Detectives Endowment Association and the Captains Endowment Association.