PHOTO: Robert Capers has been nominated by Pres. Obama to succeed Loretta Lynch as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Lynch is the U.S. Attorney General. Photo Courtesy of DOJ
In a move that surely elicited the applause of at least one New York elected official, President Obama last week nominated Robert Capers to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Hailing the Bronx native and veteran federal prosecutor as “in the mold of” predecessor Loretta Lynch, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) pushed for Capers’ nomination back in May, shortly after Lynch’s confirmation as U.S. Attorney General.
“Robert Capers knows from his 22 years’ experience as a prosecutor the value of locking up violent criminals and drug kingpins who tear at the fabric of our neighborhoods,” said Schumer, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Mr. Capers is also committed to continuing the Eastern District’s proud tradition of prosecuting terrorism, public integrity and civil rights cases. He knows that all those—from the petty criminal to the public official, to the corporate executive—must be held to account if they run afoul of the law and the norms of civil society.”
Last Thursday, Lynch named Capers Interim U.S. Attorney while he is vetted by the Judiciary Committee.
Until last week, Capers served as senior litigation counsel at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The son of a retired NYPD detective and brother of an NYPD police officer, Capers also served as chief, Narcotics Section/International Narcotics Strike Force; acting deputy chief of the General Crimes Section; and Assistant U.S. Attorney. Additionally, Capers has worked for the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for New York City, and was an assistant district attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Capers received his B.A. in 1992 from New York University and his J.D. in 1996 from Albany Law School.
“He has dedicated his life to this calling and he understands the delicate balance that must be upheld between protecting the community from the threat of crime and protecting the civil rights of the people in the community,” Schumer said of Capers.
The Eastern District encompasses the counties of Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk.
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
