Category: Archive
New York Daily News: Protecting children in the age of COVID: The Administration for Children’s Services must change its approach
The COVID-19 crisis has forced us to rethink every aspect of American life, revealing that many structures damaging in normal times are now downright catastrophic. This is true in the criminal legal system, where policies that prop up mass incarceration have enabled disease and death to ravage our jails and prisons. It is also true […]
Politico: Officials, advocates call for release of transgender, vulnerable inmates amid coronavirus
“Transgender people continue to be moved from facility to facility because the Department of Correction often houses them incorrectly and then needs to move them to another housing area,” Deborah Lolai, supervising attorney of the Bronx Defenders’ LGBTQ Defense Practice, in a statement. “This means that transgender people are going to be exposed to many […]
The Nation: In ICE Detention, Forced to Pay for Soap
“At this point, the coronavirus has infected hundreds of thousands of Americans and killed over 50,000. One of the CDC’s most basic guidelines for avoiding COVID-19 is, of course, frequently washing one’s hands. Robyn Barnard, an asylum attorney in Southern California, says that her client contacted her and asked her to put money in his […]
April 28, 2020 Habeas Filings in Coronel et al v. Decker et al.
Case 2:20-cv-05061-JMV Case 2:20-cv-05053
The Chronicle of Social Change: Parents’ Foster Care Placement Challenges Need Quick Resolutions, New York Appeals Court Rules
“During testimony in Albany in November, Emma Ketteringham, managing attorney of Bronx Defenders’ Family Defense Practice said the problems include too few judges and a lack of evening and weekend courtroom hours. “As a result, families are separated needlessly and kept separated for longer than necessary,” she told lawmakers. Pandemic-related court closures have exacerbated those delays for the foreseeable […]
MySanAntonio: Advocates call for canceling court fees, fines; reinstating drivers’ licenses
“According to the Driven by Justice Coalition, New York issued nearly 1.7 million driver’s license suspensions for traffic debt during a 28-month period between 2016 and 2018. Nearly 75 percent of those with suspended licenses drive anyway, said Ranit Patel of The Bronx Defenders, a nonprofit public defender organization. The calls to suspend fines and […]
Women’s Media Center: Closed courts create anguish for families separated by child welfare system
“In states with shelter-in-place orders, most courts have been closed or able to hear only limited types of cases, with devastating consequences for some families. The lack of access to courts has delayed reunifications for families with children in foster care, and has caused difficulties for child custody arrangements in domestic violence cases. The outsized […]
Trouw: Geen borgsom in New York: vrij spel voor criminelen?
“Maar de New Yorkse media missen een nog veel sensationeler verhaal, zegt advocaat Eli Northrup, die regelmatig verdachten bijstaat bij hun eerste voorgeleiding na arrestatie. “Dat is het verhaal van iemand die geen borgtocht krijgt opgelegd die hij niet kan betalen, terug mag gaan naar zijn gezin, zijn baan niet verliest. In plaats van pas […]
Amsterdam News: Five medically vulnerable immigrants are released from ICE detention, but thousands still detained during pandemic
“Many attorneys and legal offices continue demanding that all immigrants be released. Releasing people from immigration detention can protect their lives, the lives of staff, and public health. A growing number of courts around the country have ordered the immediate release of medically vulnerable individuals. Courts are recognizing both the enormous risk of harm that […]
New York Daily News: ‘I just want to hug my family and be able to grieve;’ ‘I have so much that I need to catch up on;’ ‘I miss the old normal.’ New Yorkers look ahead to end of coronavirus quarantine
“When this is over, I’ll go to Lupita’s Restaurant around the corner from The Bronx Defenders, order one of every taco, then bring it back to a conference room where I’ll brainstorm with my team and relish the banter that’s impossible on a screen.” Read the full article here