Telemundo: Concejo Municipal aumenta fondos para proteger a migrantes
Concejo Municipal aumenta fondos para proteger a migrantes. Mira el video completo aquí
El Diario: Concejo Municipal asigna $16 millones para dar ayuda legal gratis a inmigrantes
“Los operativos de los agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) siguen aumentando en todo el país, y la meta es cumplir con el objetivo de la Administración Trump, de arrestar y deportar el mayor número posible de indocumentados. Y a pesar de ser una ‘ciudad santuario’, la Gran Manzana no ha escapado a las acciones de ‘La Migra’, y…
The Appeal: Parents Threatened With Losing Children Over Cannabis Use
“Ms. D, a mother of two living in the Bronx, smoked cannabis occasionally. She never smoked in front of her children, and her casual use never affected her ability to parent. So when a child protective investigator asked her if she smoked, Ms. D was forthcoming. After all, her children were healthy, happy, and well…
Law360: Challenge To NYPD’s Use of Sealed Records Gets Go-Ahead
“A New York judge has certified a class of individuals who contend the New York City Police Department has unlawfully used information contained in their sealed arrest records when investigating other cases. Justice Alexander M. Tisch of the New York Supreme Court for New York County determined Thursday that clients of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton…
The City: Layleen Polanco’s Death Inspires Bail Fund For Transgender Inmates
“The effort has generated more than $10,000 in donations from fewer than 100 donors in less than a month, according to Kaminer, 52, who works in IT and lives in Hells Kitchen. The money has been used to free six transgender inmates so far, he said. “All of the discrimination the trans community faces in…
New York Daily News: Have a sealed arrest in NYC? You may now be in a class action suit against the NYPD
“A case challenging the NYPD’s access to sealed arrests is now a class action lawsuit that could involve millions of people, a judge ruled Thursday. The Bronx Defenders, which filed the suit, said the decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank is a sign the NYPD should reform its rules regarding arrests that were…
The Appeal: What’s Not To Love About The NYPD Slowdown?
“The Daily Appeal spoke to Alice Fontier, the managing director of the criminal defense practice at The Bronx Defenders. I asked Fontier about how the slowdown has played out in criminal court in the Bronx, one of the most heavily policed counties in the country. Over the last few months, Fontier said, there had been at…
Doin’ the Work: Defending Families Facing Child Removal – Asia Piña, MSW
“In this episode, I talk with Asia Piña, who is an Early Defense Social Worker for the Family Defense Practice at Bronx Defenders, in the Bronx, New York. Asia explains how she works with a team of social workers, parent advocates, and attorneys to best defend parents who are being charged with abuse and neglect…
Biometric Update: NYPD accused of violating best practices and law with DNA and facial biometrics databases
“Critics warn that the NYPD is not only violating privacy rights and civil liberties, but it is also not complying with a state law passed in 1976. The law says that when an investigation “is terminated in a person’s favor or results in a non-criminal violation,” all records are to be “sealed” and genetic material…
The Champion: Challenging Facial Recognition Software in Criminal Court
Federal agencies and high profile investigations are not the only places where facial recognition software (“FRS”) is being used. State and local law enforcement agencies employ FRS in investigations that range from serious to relatively mundane. FRS has been used to pinpoint suspects in cases as routine as drug sales, petty theft, robbery, and identity theft….
One Zero EXCLUSIVE: The NYPD Is Using Sealed Mug Shots in Its Facial Recognition Program
“In November 2018, Claire Mauksch, a lawyer with the public defenders’ organization Bronx Defenders, picked up a felony case that struck her as odd. The previous day, a suspect had been arrested on felony robbery charges for an incident that had taken place two years prior. There was little information in the file to show…
New York Times: A Child Bumps Her Head. What Happens Next Depends on Race
“When a child experiences a mild head injury and a parent seeks medical attention, what happens next in New York City seems to depend on the ZIP code and the color of the parent’s skin. In April, the actress Jenny Mollen, wife of the actor Jason Biggs and resident of Manhattan’s affluent West Village, announced on…
The Crime Report: How Do Prosecutors (and the Rest of Us) Get Sentencing So Wrong?
“And all of these players are buffeted simultaneously by external environmental factors: caseloads rise, budgets fall, treatment programs close, spasmodic media pressure ratchets up, options narrow. Sentences may be driven by prosecutors, but they are also influenced by defenders. For example, a recent study makes clear that the Bronx Defenders’ self-consciously “holistic” approach managed to significantly bend…
The Appeal: ‘Is This The Guy?’
“The NYPD also claimed that it was exempt from disclosing information about its facial recognition technology because doing so could imperil future investigations. It argued that because the department is only a user—not the creator—of the software, any disclosure would violate state protections of its partner’s trade secrets. Alice Fontier, The Bronx Defenders’s Criminal Defense…
The City: Some Teen Detainees Still Treated Like Adults, Or Worse, Despite ‘Raise The Age’
“The courts’ lack of preparedness for the new youth arraignments are on stark display at Bronx Supreme Court. Teens in The Bronx who do make it to arraignment at the youth part are publicly marched in, cuffed or shackled, right through the front doors, THE CITY found. “Any kid that’s walked in during the day…
New York Times: ‘It’s Like an Automatic Deportation if You Don’t Have a Lawyer’
“Spurred on by these findings, Judge Katzmann’s study group decided to create the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project in 2013, with the goal of creating a pilot program for universal representation that could eventually be expanded to represent every detained immigrant with a hearing at the Varick Street Immigration Court. The City Council funded the pilot…
BronxNet News: Today’s Verdict – ADP
Our Elizabeth Williams and Robyn Goldberg are interviewed about our Adolescent Defense Project and their work in it defending minors. Watch the full interview starting at 11:45 here
New York Women’s Foundation: The Justice Fund Grantee Partners
“As public defenders representing more than 20,000 people a year in the criminal legal system, we understand the importance of closing Rikers,” said Justine Olderman, Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders. “But closing Rikers will not, by itself, result in a fairer pre-trial system. With support from the New York Women’s Foundation, we are harnessing…
Santa Barbara Independent: Defending Santa Barbara’s Most Vulnerable
“Holistic Defense is making a tangible difference in the lives of clients and changing the way they perceive the criminal justice system. These were some of the goals in mind when FSA and OPD applied for a funding grant in 2017 to launch the pilot program. The program is one of only a handful in…
BronxNet: The Bronx Defenders’ Annual Block Party
Reporter Ashley Tiffaney visits The Bronx Defenders’ Annual Community Block Party in the Melrose section of the Bronx. A day of performances, music, pony rides and more in celebration of how low-income homes are represented in the justice system. See the full video here
Open Minds: Interdisciplinary Legal Representation For Parents Involved In Abuse or Neglect Cases Resulted In 118 Fewer Days In Foster Care
“Interdisciplinary legal representation of parents facing child abuse or neglect child welfare cases, whose children entered foster care in New York City, resulted in 118 fewer days in foster care for the children affected. On average, a child who enters out-of-home care will spend 658 days in foster care through 48 months of petition filing…
Gay City News: LGBTQ Point Person Named at NYC Corrections
“Deborah Lolai, a criminal defense attorney and LGBTQ crime specialist with the Bronx Defenders, said during a City Council hearing on May 1 that “the majority of trans women who I represent who have been incarcerated have been in a male facility. Contrary to what has been testified to, they are not there by choice.”…
New York Amsterdam News: Inmates Deal with no AC in Bergen County Jail
“The Bronx Defenders, The Legal Aid Society, and Brooklyn Defender Services are also speaking about the conditions at the Bergen County Jail. The organizations provide free legal representation through the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project to detained immigrants with pending cases at the Varick Street Immigration Court. In a joint statement the organizations said…
Gothamist: Immigration Court Interpreters Say Video Teleconferencing Makes It Difficult To Do Their Jobs
“Sophia Gurulé said that because they are experiencing their hearings through video, her clients often end up confused. She said she finds herself explaining important aspects of a hearing, such as whether her client was given the right to get out on bond, after the fact. “They’ll say, ‘I don’t even know what happened,’” Gurulé…
North Jersey: Air conditioning repairs at Bergen County Jail continue as region braces for more hot days
“The continued air conditioning issues at the facility, which houses federal immigration detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have sparked outcry from some attorneys and immigration activists. The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, and the Bronx Defenders, organizations that provide free legal representation through the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, said they have heard multiple…