Aramis Ayala

"Brown came to New York from Jamaica as a teenager in 1993,” her office said in a statement this morning. “He received Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card) status upon entering the United States with an immigrant visa based on a family petition filed by his mother."

"Although there was another worker present and Brown never confessed to possessing the marijuana, he was arrested and initially charged with Possession of Cannabis with Intent to Sell."

"common-sense” change would reduce costs, free up prosecutors to pursue more serious offenses and offer offenders the opportunity to “get the help they need.”"

"Finding a remedy for the issue of mass incarceration has been incredibly important to me,” Ayal."

"With drug-related offenses in particular, there is significant evidence that the prosecution of these offenses has failed to reduce levels of drug use, dramatically increased the number of individuals incarcerated and undermined public safety by diverting much-needed resources away from the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes."

"Over the years, the Legislature has increased maximum sentence lengths, added habitual offender sentencing enhancements and imposed mandatory minimum sentences for a variety of offenses, including those involving controlled substances like marijuana,” Ayala said in a statement. “While this strategy may sound appealing to some, it has not proven to be effective at reducing crime or preventing those who have committed crimes from offending again. What it has done, is cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars at a time when budgets are already stretched thin.”"

"When I first started running for Congress, I was thinking about the ability to make laws as state attorney, we're the executive branch of the government and there was a lot of frustration because unjust laws produce unjust execution of laws,"

"I could sit back in a comfortable seat, what we know it's going to be or I can fight like we've never fought before and make change for everyday people"

"I want to include all people, those who support me and those who don't because this is about finding common ground in getting above the fray that politics has been in far too long,"

"As a state attorney, those views will not impact the administration of law and I will continue to follow the law, but I also realize that it's time for me to move forward and to continue the pursuit of justice in a different capacity"