Sandra Roper for Brooklyn District Attorney

Brooklyn, N.Y. – On Wednesday, January 19th, 2005, at 1:00 p.m., Sandra Roper, the embattled opponent of long-entrenched machine politician, Charles Hynes, will announce her candidacy for Kings County District Attorney on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, N.Y, 11209.

"Justice not Politics is my guiding principle,"said Ms. Roper. "I am fighting for Justice in Brooklyn. By definition, personal grudges are self-serving. I ran for DA in 2001 to fight self-serving machine politicians, the rot that's set in and taken hold of the courts in Brooklyn."

Bill Glaberson's New York Times article,"In Brooklyn, Grudge Match in Race for District Attorney" (Thursday, January 6, 2005), gives a synopsis of each side's version of the battle in Brooklyn between the machine and voices of the people.

Charles J. Hynes is part of the politics as-usual cronyism that has run Kings County for decades. Sandra Roper will serve the public, not the corrupt system.

The District Attorney sets the policy for enforcement of the laws of the county. The power of this office is vast. The DA commences criminal proceedings that can deprive a citizen of liberty. The District Attorney's Office is the hand that aims the weapons of the justice system. We tread very dangerous ground when a DA is more concerned with his "stats"than in truth-finding through exhaustive investigation. A prosecutor's job is not to win cases and settle scores, but rather to ensure that the people are protected from criminals.

Charles J. Hynes wasted the people's money on John O'Hara's residency/voting case and Judge John Phillips's incompetency case. (After being subject to this DA's supposed protection, Judge John Phillips, once a millionaire, now resides in a VA hospital and reportedly is penniless). The struggle of Sandra Roper, John O'Hara, and Judge John Phillips to bring Democracy to Brooklyn – and how each was subsequently beset by legal woes – has been the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles. Two by Christopher Ketcham are particularly comprehensive: "Meet the New Boss," Harper's Weekly, December 2004 and "Unwelcome to the Machine," New York Press, Volume 17, Issue 47. The PoliticsNYC.com Web Site provides an archive of documents on this topic.

"The Brooklyn DA's race is about fundamental justice for the people of Brooklyn,"said Roper. "Let's focus on making our streets safe and providing for our most vulnerable citizens, instead of wasting time and money by prosecuting people who dare to run against the political machine."

The first African-American candidate for Brooklyn District Attorney, Sandra Roper ran for that office in 2001 despite the threats of disbarment and indictment. Now, even while she is still under the bitter shadow of indictment and the threat of incarceration, she will run for DA in 2005. As Brooklyn District Attorney, Roper will follow the ideal of her hero, the recently deceased pioneer, Shirley Chisholm: a statesperson, who worries about the next generation, not a politician, who merely worries about the next election.

To that end, she will be announcing her 2005 candidacy for Brooklyn DA on Wednesday, January 19, 2005, 1:00 p.m. on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, to continue her cause that she began in 2001 – the fight to bring real justice to Brooklyn.

Sandra Roper is available for interviews and photos. Please phone 917-478-1769 or e-mail: info@Roper2005.com to arrange a mutually convenient time.