Author: BXD
BxD Urges Mayor de Blasio to Reconsider Position on Exceptions to City-Funded Immigration Representation
May 4, 2017, New York – In response to the ongoing debate between Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito regarding City funding for the New York Immigrant Family Project (NYIFUP), The Bronx Defenders, one of three NYIFUP providers, issued the following statement: “At a time when we should be radically reimagining what it means to be […]
BxD Testifies Before City Council Committees Regarding DOI Report on NYCHA Policy of Permanent Exclusion
On April 24, 2017, Runa Rajagopal, director of The Bronx Defenders’ Civil Action Practice, presented written and oral testimony before the New York City Council Committees on Public Housing and Oversight and Investigations regarding a new report by the New York City Department of Investigation’s (DOI) on the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) policy […]
Non-Profit Offers Free Legal Representation, Services To North Tulsa Mothers
“Oklahoma is sending the highest recorded number of women to prison, but a new non-profit program based in north Tulsa is trying to buck that trend. The group, Still She Rises, is a team of attorneys that works specifically for low-income mothers in north Tulsa, representing them for free.” BxD’s latest project, Still She Rises, […]
Holistic legal aid program Still She Rises begins taking clients in north Tulsa
“What we knew initially was that we wanted to create a holistic law defender law office that could represent women in the criminal justice system, recognizing that Oklahoma is the No. 1 state for incarceration for women.” – BxD Executive Director Robin Steinberg speaking with Tulsa World about our new project, Still She Rises, Tulsa. […]
The Trump Era Tests the True Power of Sanctuary Cities
Is the City of New York doing everything it can to ensure safety and due process for immigrant communities? In this interview with The New Yorker, BxD Managing Director, Justine Olderman had a simple answer: “Unless we take immediate steps to protect immigrants who seek redress in our city’s courts, we should stop calling ourselves […]
Trapping immigrants using NYC courts
“Allowing ICE to use the city’s court system to trap immigrants is immoral. If New York City is to live up to its promise as a sanctuary city, there can be no place for federal deportation forces in our courts.” Op-ed by BxD’s Justine Olderman for the New York Daily News. Read the piece here.
Bronx Defenders Asks NY Supreme Court to Compel NYPD to Produce Property Seizure Records
March 21, 2017, New York –The Bronx Defenders has asked the NY Supreme Court to compel the NYPD to appear at a hearing to explain its property seizure database and to produce internal records about policies and procedures involving millions of dollars in cash and property seized during arrests each year. The Bronx Defenders sued […]
NYT: Black Children’s Welfare
Erin Cloud, a supervising attorney of our Family Defense Practice, writes a Letter to the Editor to Stacy Patton to clarify the ways in which the disproportionate reporting of black families to the child protective services is reflective of economic injustice and racial inequality of low income families rather than about their actual parenting. “Increased […]
Vox: A former inmate on the perils of life after prison
“I have yet to speak with or to hear an employer who employs a formerly incarcerated person complain about the quality and the passion of the work that they have received.” Our Re-Entry and Community Outreach Coordinator Wesley Caines on life after prison. Read the entire interview here
A Critical Civil Rights Tool Is on the Chopping Block
“With threats to the balance of power in this country on the rise, protecting the class action is urgent. Courts can serve as a check against civil rights violations, but only if lawyers are able to bring cases that challenge government abuse.” Op-ed by BxD’s Jenn Rolnick Borchetta for The Marshall Project on new pro-business legislation that could […]