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Redefining public defense.

The Bronx Defenders Our Projects - Impact Litigation

Judge Raps NYPD for ‘Gotcha’ Tactics in Civil Seizures

“Displeased by the New York City Police Department’s ‘troublesome’ litigation tactics, a state judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit seeking information on what happens to millions of ‘unclaimed’ dollars seized in civil forfeitures.” Courthouse News Service on the latest development in our lawsuit challenging lack of transparency in NYPD property seizures. Read the article 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…

In the Bronx, justice is delayed & denied

Our Executive Director, Robin Steinberg, published the following piece in Daily News about our lawsuit challenging systemic court delay in the Bronx. “This situation constitutes nothing short of a constitutional crisis. People in the poorest borough in New York, with the highest percentage of black and Latino residents, are being forced to choose between returning to…

New York Times Editorial: A Nightmare Court, Worthy of Dickens

The New York Times Editorial Board weighs in on Trowbridge et al., v. Cuomo et al, our federal lawsuit challenging the epidemic of court delays in the Bronx Criminal Court. “This Dickensian nightmare is all too common in the Bronx, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday in Federal District Court by the Bronx Defenders,…

Groundbreaking Federal Lawsuit Challenges Epidemic of Delay in Bronx Criminal Court

Contact: media@bronxdefenders.org Broken System Undermines Right to Speedy Trial and Due Process for Thousands of People Charged with Low-Level Offenses, Causing Significant Social and Economic Hardships NEW YORK (May 10, 2016)  – A federal class action lawsuit was filed today against Governor Andrew Cuomo and the administrators of New York State’s Unified Court System for…

The Bronx Defenders announces significant victory in our lawsuit challenging “Stop and Frisk” program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Molly Kovel, The Bronx Defenders, 718-508-3421 or MollyK@bronxdefenders.org The Bronx Defenders is pleased to announce that the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has cleared the way for immediate implementation of crucial reforms of the New York Police Department’s “Stop and Frisk” program as ordered by Judge Shira…

ABA Journal: NYC proposes settlement in stop-and-frisk cases

A motion to resolve two cases that accuse the New York City Police Department of unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices was filed Thursday in the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the proposed settlement at a Thursday press conference. According to a statement from his office, the city and…

Federal Suit Claims Police Manufacture Misdemeanors

Today, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLC and The Bronx Defenders filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court on behalf of five Bronx residents, charging the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) with targeting Black and Latino communities for marijuana arrests and “manufacturing” misdemeanor crimes against residents in order to meet departmental quotas. All…

The Village Voice: NYPD Clean Halls Program Faces Legal Challenge

Later this morning, civil liberties advocates will announce a new challenge to the controversial NYPD program of patrolling the hallways of thousands of privately-owned buildings. Private owners enroll in the program, known as Operation Clean Halls, which has swelled in Manhattan alone to at least 3,895 buildings. The program envisioned as a way for police…

NY1: Lawsuit Claims NYPD “Clean Halls” Program Violates Civil Rights

Civil rights advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the New York City Police Department over a controversial program that allows officers to patrol private apartment buildings. The suit, submitted by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Latino Justice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, as well as lawyers with the Bronx Defenders, allege…

WNYC: NYPD Conducts Suspicionless Stops in Private Buildings: Suit

A federal class action was filed against New York City and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on Wednesday for what plaintiffs allege are suspicionless stops within private residential buildings. Under the NYPD’s enforcement of a program known as Operation Clean Halls, a landlord enters into an agreement with the NYPD, which grants officers permission to patrol…

Reuters: U.S. judge limits stop and frisk searches in New York’s Bronx

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the New York Police Department to immediately stop conducting trespass stops outside certain residential buildings in the borough of the Bronx without “reasonable suspicion” that an individual is engaged in criminal activity. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin issued her ruling in the narrowest of three main lawsuits challenging New…

Amsterdam News: Hands Off: Black community responds to U.S. District Court ruling of NYPD’s “Clean Halls” as unconstitutional

Could this be the first step to eliminating “stop and frisk?” On Tuesday morning, a U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge ruled that the New York Police Department’s “Clean Halls Program” violated the constitutional rights of New York City residents. According to Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, for years the NYPD…