Author: BXD
The New Yorker: Annals of Law: Rights and Wrongs
A Judge Takes on Stop & Frisk. Article by Jeffrey Toobin. Excerpt: “…Bradley took the ticket to the offices of the Bronx Defenders, who have pioneered what they call “holistic defense,” a method based on recognizing that, for criminal defendants like Bradley, deportation, eviction, or the loss of parental rights may be more ruinous than conviction […]
Kumar Rao spoke at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. about race, diversity and criminal justice
On May 22, 2013, Kumar Rao spoke on a panel at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. The discussion was keynoted by U.S. Senator William ‘Mo’ Cowan (D-MA) and was titled “The Case for Diverse Voices in Public Policy.” The conversation centered around the need for diverse voices in leading efforts to legitimize and […]
Metro: Report: Stops of minorities less effective than stops of white New Yorkers
An analysis by New York City’s public advocate may indicate that racial profiling does not contribute to effective stops. The report looked at public NYPD data on stop-and-frisk from 2012, and found that weapons and guns were more often found on white New Yorkers than African-Americans or Latinos. The NYPD discovered a weapon in one […]
Gotham Schools: Community members carve out a role in school guards’ training
When Lynn Sanchez, a Bronx parent activist, challenged police and education officials to address persistent school climate problems during a public forum on school safety last year, she did not think they would say yes. And yet just months later, Sanchez was sitting with safety agents during one of their training sessions — which, for […]
The Take Away: Searching for Justice in the South Bronx
As the executive director of the Bronx Defenders, a public defense and legal services organization, Robin Steinberg has spent her career demanding justice for the residents of the poorest Congressional district in the nation. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, the landmark Supreme Court case that requires states to provide attorneys […]
Federal Suit Claims Police Manufacture Misdemeanors
Today, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLC and The Bronx Defenders filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court on behalf of five Bronx residents, charging the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) with targeting Black and Latino communities for marijuana arrests and “manufacturing” misdemeanor crimes against residents in order to meet departmental quotas. All […]
ABA Journal: Stop-and-frisk project reaches ‘appalling’ conclusion: No right to misdemeanor trial in Bronx, NY
A special Bronx Defenders project—in which a Wall Street law firm was lined up to help those accused of misdemeanors after arrests resulting from questionable stop-and-frisk tactics by police—has reached a grim conclusion. Contrary to what the U.S. Constitution and New York state law requires, there is effectively no right to trial or meaningful court […]
ThinkProgress: How Bronx Prosecutors Avert Any Challenge To Marijuana Stop-And-Frisk Arrests
In New York City, marijuana is the most common reason for arrest, even though only possession of marijuana in public view is a crime. A dramatic spike in these arrests has accompanied the rise of the New York Police Department’s controversial stop and frisk tactic, and an equally controversial reported tactic of considering the marijuana […]
No Day in Court – a New Report by The Bronx Defenders
The report, No Day in Court, finds that manufactured marijuana arrests, prosecutorial delay, and an overwhelmed court system all conspire against justice in the Bronx. New York – Today, The Bronx Defenders released a report that shows that people who are unconstitutionally arrested for marijuana possession every year are consistently denied meaningful access to justice in […]
New York Times: Federal Suit Claims Police Distort Marijuana Searches to Create Misdemeanors
One man was walking home with groceries. Another was on a break from his job at a meat market. A third was walking down the street listening to headphones. That is when the men say police officers confronted them, sometimes violently, searched their clothing and discovered small amounts of marijuana, according to a federal civil […]