Kathleen Maura Rice (born February 15, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States representative for New York's 4th congressional district from 2015 to 2023.

On January 29, 2014, Rice announced that she would run for Congress in New York's 4th congressional district to replace retiring Democratic incumbent Carolyn McCarthy.

She lowered the blood-alcohol level at which plea bargains were offered,[9] supported Leandra's Law, and charged a man with murder after a 2005 accident that killed a limo driver and a child.

[19] She has also supported efforts to allow some citizens to seal prior low-level, non-violent convictions in the hopes of improving their chances of obtaining employment.

[20] In the same year, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo chose Rice to be a member of the Moreland Commission on Utility Storm Preparation and Response, a panel tasked with investigating the failures of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) after Hurricane Sandy.

Rice supports the "Raise the Age NY" initiative to treat nonviolent teen offenders as juveniles in the criminal justice system.

After the case unraveled, Butts alleged that he was a victim of prosecutorial misconduct in a civil rights lawsuit that was settled with New York City.

Rice was among those named in that suit, but has largely escaped attention for starting her career in an office in which prosecutors are alleged to have put some innocent people behind bars with coerced confessions, bogus witness statements, coached lineup identifications and other tactics.

Rice charged these defendants with crimes ranging from attempted murder of a police officer to assault and robbery to gun and drug sales.

[29] Among those Rice has charged and convicted of corruption include a deputy police commissioner,[30] a Long Beach City Council member,[31] former Nassau County legislators,[32] and several town building department employees.

[35] In 2010, Rice ordered the review[36] of a 1987 case in which Arnold Friedman and his son, Jesse,[37] pleaded guilty to sexually abusing young boys in their Great Neck, Long Island home.

Rice formed a panel of outside experts—including the Innocence Project's Barry Scheck (who spoke out against the review)[38]—to examine whether Jesse Friedman had wrongfully confessed.

[44] In 2022, Rice criticized Democratic groups aiding far-right GOP primary candidates to make for easier opponents in November.

Throughout the campaign, Rice provided an alternative to Dillon, pledging to cut plea bargaining and touting her would-be zero tolerance policy for drunk driving.

In June 2014, Rice won the Democratic primary election for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 4th congressional district, defeating Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams, 56%–44%.