Category: In the News
Frank News: Systems Built on Good Intentions are the Most Dangerous: Pt. 1
“This interview with Emma Ketteringham, managing director of the family defense practice at the Bronx Defenders, was conducted and condensed by franknews. The second half of this conversation on the child welfare system can be found here. When I started, I began to talk to my clients about the impact contact with the criminal system had affected their families and I […]
New York Law Journal: Bronx Defenders and New York Giants Players Partner Amid George Floyd-Sparked Social Justice Movement
“As the social justice movement against racial discrimination continues in the wake of George Floyd’s death, The Bronx Defenders, one of the city’s largest nonprofit legal advocacies, and the New York Giants pro football team are pairing up “to combat inequities in the criminal, immigration, family, and civil legal systems,” according to a joint news […]
City & State: Bronx Power 50
“Justine Olderman was named executive director of Bronx Defenders in 2018, but she has been with the organization since its earliest days. As managing director of the organization’s criminal defense practice, she more than doubled the size of the department and its caseload. As executive director, Olderman sounded the alarm about COVID-19 on Rikers Island […]
The Imprint: The Sad Omission of Child Welfare from Mainstream Discussion on Race
“As thousands of Black people and their allies are protesting the systemic racism and police brutality that have been part of the fabric of this society for centuries, some white Americans appear ready to discuss the damage that oppression has done to Black and brown people. Books about anti-racism are flying off the shelves. There are […]
Gotham Gazette: Supporting Law Enforcement and Reforming the NYPD are Not Mutually Exclusive — I Know From Experience
“When I joined the NYPD in 2013, I was an unlikely candidate for law enforcement. Nearly a decade earlier, during the 2004 Republican National Convention, I was a passerby arrested at a protest in Union Square. At the invitation of the New York Civil Liberties Union, I joined a class action lawsuit against the City […]
Brooklyn Daily Eagle: De Blasio, Shea blame courts for violence; Legal Aid points out courts have arraigned 19,000
“In fact, since mid-March, courts in New York City have held nearly 19,000 arraignments,” said the letter. “By executive order, these individuals’ right to have their cases presented to a grand jury if they are charged with a felony is suspended, as is their right to a speedy trial and other due process protections. Police […]
Commercial Observer: Can NYC Reopen Its Housing Courts Safely?
“The legal services groups, which include the Legal Aid Society, the Bronx Defenders and the Brooklyn Defender Services, argued in a statement that the state Office of Court Administration’s plan to reopen the courts “forces our clients to choose between their health and safety and their freedom, and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act in […]
NBC News: Video of police abuses and the NYPD trampling the Constitution reveal inefficacy of ‘reform’
“Amid a summer of protest sparked by the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, much has been said about the importance of “reforming” police departments. But what if those departments cannot be reformed? This week, a video went viral showing the arrest of a young trans woman during a protest. The 18-year-old woman was tackled in broad daylight […]
The Appeal: Virtual Hearings Have Created A ‘Caste System’ In America’s Courts
“Particularly problematic is the fact that many courts have closed to all but those hearings determined to be emergencies. The deferment of so many legal proceedings raises its own set of dilemmas, particularly for people who are incarcerated while awaiting a trial. Child welfare cases have proved especially fraught for some parents. Many jurisdictions are […]
Gothamist: Pardoned By Cuomo But Detained By ICE, Bronx Immigrant Marks Three Years In ICE Detention
“In a series of court decisions since the pardon, neither immigration nor federal judges have agreed to his release — even on bond. “Black immigrants are treated differently in these court proceedings,” said Sophia Gurulé, his attorney from Bronx Defenders. “For some reason they don’t value the community ties that he has, they don’t value […]