Author: BXD
The Bronx Defenders Written Comments for the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety
The Bronx Defenders’ Written Comments for the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety Oversight: The Police Department’s Plan to Enhance Officer Trainings September 8, 2014 The Bronx Defenders is a holistic public defender located in the South Bronx. Each year we represent over 30,000 people arrested in Bronx County. Nearly all of our […]
Associated Press: NYC immigrant public defender system breaks ground
NEW YORK (AP) — When Curtis Edmund first heard that a government official had come by his Bronx home looking for him, he couldn’t figure out why. But he agreed to a meeting early this year, and when he arrived, he was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Edmund, a longtime U.S. […]
The Bronx Defenders Welcomes Its 2014 Training Teams and New Hires!
The Bronx Defenders is proud to announce the start of its 2014 Training Teams as well as many new hires throughout the office. For the first time ever, The Bronx Defenders will welcome two training teams to the office. Throughout the next twelve months, our new attorneys will receive intensive training in holistic defense, working […]
New York Times: For Immigration Lawyers, a Surprise Speaker Who Asks Them to Change Lives
The fresh-faced lawyers included refugees from violence and persecution in Central America, as well as the grandchildren of refugees from Eastern Europe. They arrived at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Manhattan, on Thursday in similar shades of gray and black suits, poised to continue their training in a new […]
The Intercept: America Without the Makeup: Artez Hurston’s Ferguson
A highlight of the challenging and important work that the Arch City Defenders, one of The Bronx Defenders Center for Holistic Defense Training and Technical Assistance Sites, is doing in Missouri: Artez Hurston is curled up on a concrete bench in a Missouri jail cell, fast asleep. He snoozes peacefully, despite the fact that just […]
An important legislative step to bring transparency to the use of solitary confinement
The Bronx Defenders was at City Hall yesterday where Mayor de Blasio signed into law Intro-292A, which will bring increased transparency to the use of solitary confinement in New York City jails, an important first step toward ending this torturous practice. Under this law the Department of Corrections will be required to publish four reports a […]
Times-Ledger: Wills’ bill seeks to protect jailed voters’ ballots
The Bronx Defenders Policy Organizer Kamau Butcher quoted in local news article about newly introduced legislation regarding voting while incarcerated. Although jail detainees are kept behind bars, City Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica) says their votes should not be. Wills introduced a bill at last week’s Council meeting outlining a process for the city Department of Correction […]
Solidarity at the August 23rd ‘March for Justice’ on Staten Island
The Bronx Defenders was proud to be a part of the March for Justice on Staten Island last weekend to peacefully call for justice for Eric Garner, Ramarley Graham, and others who have been killed and/or brutalized by NYPD officers with little to no accountability or consequences for the involved police officers. Thousands joined the march through […]
Defending families in the Bronx: A collection of portraits celebrating family reunification
Families are the building blocks of every community. They are a primary source of identity and support for individuals in American society. However, in the Bronx – home to some of the poorest, most-under-resourced neighborhoods in the country – parents often struggle to retain the right to make basic decisions about their children, and families end […]
WNYC’s The Takeaway: Confronting The Hard Realities of Race and Criminal Justice Through Ferguson
The shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri has highlighted a racial divide in the way communities across the country perceive police practices and the criminal justice system as a whole. The statistics seem to tell a specific story. According to the Pew Research Center, compared to their white counterparts, black men are more than […]