Author: BXD
City Limits: How NYC’s Prosecutors are Handling Protest and Looting Cases
“A joint statement by the city’s public defense agencies on Thursday slammed that move. “At a moment in which Black people and their allies are rightfully protesting state sanctioned racial violence while simultaneously bearing the brunt of a global pandemic – a crisis that makes brutal and dangerous city jails even more deadly – DA […]
PIX11: Group claims Cuomo urged DAs to overcharge black protesters to detain them
“Several legal defense groups called it an effort to circumvent the law and unlawfully detain protesters. “Already, there is a backlog of hundreds of New Yorkers who are being illegally held because the NYPD refuses to issue Desk Appearance Tickets in lieu of arrests or complete the paperwork necessary to arraign them, despite the fact […]
Joint NYC Defender Statement On Efforts to Circumvent Law and Detain Protestors
June 4, 2020 ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** Daniel Ball, Brooklyn Defender Services, dball@bds.org Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders, RKarerat@bronxdefenders.org Redmond Haskins, The Legal Aid Society, RHaskins@legal-aid.org Sam McCann, The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, SMccann@ndsny.org Hettie Powell, Queens Defenders, hpowell@queensdefenders.org Lupe Todd-Medina, New York County Defender Services, LToddmedina@nycds.org (NEW YORK, NY) – Brooklyn Defender Services, The […]
Gotham Gazette: As Courts Reopen, Threat of ICE Returns: State Lawmakers Must Protect Our Neighbors
“ICE has already used the courthouse to trap immigrants during the current crisis. On March 13, as President Trump declared a National Emergency, Mr. RC, a client of The Bronx Defenders, appeared in state court in Poughkeepsie. Despite the mounting pandemic and the deployment of state and federal resources to try to contain the virus […]
The Marshall Project: Police Arrested Fewer People During Coronavirus Shutdowns—Even Fewer Were White
“Dawit Getachew, a public defender at the Bronx Defenders in New York, says he’s seen the racial disparity in arrests before and after the pandemic, because he represents clients from a South Bronx neighborhood that is primarily home to black and Hispanic residents. While Getachew said he is not surprised to learn about the widening […]
Joint NYC Defender Statement On NYPD Brutality
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 2020 CONTACTS: Jared Chausow, Brooklyn Defender Services, JChausow@bds.org Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders, RKarerat@bronxdefenders.org Redmond Haskins, The Legal Aid Society, RHaskins@legal-aid.org Sam McCann, The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, SMccann@ndsny.org Hettie Powell, Queens Defenders, hpowell@queensdefenders.org Lupe Todd-Medina, New York County Defender Services, LToddmedina@nycds.org Joint NYC Defender Statement On NYPD Brutality […]
She Knows: 4 Things You Can Do Right Now to Demand Justice for George Floyd
“In particular, donating to bail funds allows organizations to do crucial work to provide justice to people who may be incarcerated because they cannot afford cash bail. Activists are also working to ensure that cash bail is not codified as part of the prison system. Other organizations to which you can donate: The Atlanta Solidarity Fund, the Bail Project, the Brooklyn Bail […]
New York Daily News: Living with lupus in the time of Trump
“When Trump promoted this drug in March, people all over the world rushed to take it. There was an immediate shortage of the drug. Now that he claims to be on hydroxychloroquine, it will likely spark a new run on the pills, which will directly jeopardize my own health by making it harder for me to […]
City Limits: Opinion: Don’t Leave the Vulnerable with Less Defense in NYC Courtrooms
“COVID-19 has upended every aspect of public life. It has also exposed and exacerbated the racial and economic disparities that have long existed in this city. Our legal systems are no different in that regard. Even as some court functions have slowed down, our legal systems continue to target and ensnare low-income New Yorkers. ‘Social […]
CityLimits: City’s Courts Seen Lacking in Interpreters
“The situation is complicated when these organizations cannot pay for private simultaneous translation services and the lawyers are not bilingual. If a defendant is in custody, “you can’t talk to the person if you don’t know the language,” explains Alice Fontier, director of criminal practice at The Bronx Defenders. So for those who can’t make […]