He fought the law ... and he won: David Soares' election as District Attorney marks a turning tide against New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws.(q & a)(Interview)

On Nov. 2, 2004, voters in Albany County, New York elected David Soares their new District Attorney. A 35-year-old Cape Verdean immigrant, Soares unseated incumbent District Attorney Paul Clyne in the Democratic Party primary on Sept. 14; then, running on both the Democratic Party and Working Families Party ticket, Soares handily won the general election with 56 percent of the vote. Soares had been a prosecutor in Clyne's office for five years and earned a reputation with Albany residents by developing a Community Accountability Board as an alternative to the courts.

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