Category: In the News
City and State: Out on parole, and turning out to vote
“I believe voting is a right. I recognize that there’s a perpetual punishment system that exists. And for me, voting is fundamental to attacking that and addressing that and dismantling that.” Our Wesley Caines, Re-Entry and Community Outreach Coordinator, on voting while out on parole. Read more here
City Limits: Low Pay for Public Defenders and Prosecutors Seen as Threat to Justice
“Pay disparity in public defense disproportionately affects aspiring defenders from the communities that we serve…As we are all aware, low-income Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people are overwhelmingly overrepresented in the court systems as defendants, and incredibly underrepresented as defenders. ” Our Shannon Cumberbatch, Director of Hiring and Diversity, testified before the New York City Council on […]
NPR: County Officials Shutting ICE Out Of Local Jails
“Families and lawyers and their community are here. And the separation from those resources is critical to enabling detainees to actually win their cases and remain permanently in the United States or obtain release on bond,” says Ryan Brewer, our Supervising Attorney for Immigration. Read the entire transcript here
Rise Magazine: Uplifting Every Voice
“When you are powerless in a system that is tearing your family apart, you hold on to any little ray of hope. My hope and strength came from my boys and the deep and instinctual knowledge that I, as their mother, could not and would not allow strangers to obliterate the years of nurture and […]
Medium: When Protection Hurts
“I frequently recall one child who was asked to draw himself as a superhero. I asked him what his power would be. ‘When I grow up, my superpower is going to be to keep families together,’ he said. ‘So no kid has to go through what I am going through right now.’” As an attorney […]
The Appeal: Facing Lawsuit, NYPD Changes How Officers Use Sealed Arrest Data
Our lawsuit against the NYPD states that the department is routinely accessing the sealed records of thousands of people and targeting people of color with low-level charges. Under New York’s sealing statutes, arrest records on file with the NYPD that do not result in criminal convictions must be sealed and not disclosed to anyone. […]
Gothamist: NY Officials Are On A Marijuana Legalization Listening Tour
This Monday, the first of five public forums was held to inform new legislation being drafted by Governor Cuomo’s marijuana legalization work group. The goal is to introduce a bill for state lawmakers to consider in the upcoming legislative session. Our Criminal Defense Practice Attorney Eli Northrup attended that forum. “Law enforcement needs to be prevented from using […]
NY Daily News: Legal group pushes back against NYPD’s claim it can use info from sealed cases in other investigations
The Bronx Defenders strongly oppose the NYPD’s claim that they have the right to use information from sealed cases to conduct investigations. Keeping files on individuals with sealed cases has serious ramifications for millions. Our deputy director of impact litigation, Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, says “Half of all NYPD arrests do not result in criminal convictions, yet […]
NBC News Think: Immigration enforcement has always separated people from their families
“‘Families Belong Together’ has become the battle cry of those denouncing the Trump administration’s now-ended — but not yet rectified — policy of forcibly separating children from their parents at the border. But the truth is that, in my 10 years of experience defending people from deportation, the tactic of separating families is nothing new. […]
New York Times: New York City’s Young Inmates Are Held in Isolation Upstate, Despite Ban
Three years ago, New York City banned solitary confinement for youth under 22. Despite these rules, eight young people are being held in solitary confinement, having been transferred upstate to a correctional facility in Albany County. Shortly after BxD client Steven Espinal, 19, arrived in the Albany County Correctional Facility, he was kicked so badly […]