Justine Olderman responds to NY Post article on Bronx bail data
In an August 9, 2013 New York Post article headlined “Easiest Walk for Bx ‘High Risk’ Defendants,” the Mayor’s office takes a position that is in contravention of state law, ignores the facts about rates of return, and turns a blind eye to the growing movement for bail reform. After analyzing data showing that judges…
Huffington Post: 10 Things You Should Know About This Week’s Stop and Frisk Decision
U.S. Disctrict Court Judge Shira Scheindlin handed down two landmark opinions on Monday. In Floyd v. City of New York, a federal class action lawsuit challenging racial profiling by the NYPD, Judge Scheindlin ruled that the NYPD’s stop and frisk program violates the Constitution. A second order laying out remedies covers both Floyd and part…
The Bronx Defenders Organizing Project will be registering voters today!
Volunteer today with The Bronx Defenders Organizing Project to register voters. The deadline is this Friday to register to be able to vote in the NYC primaries on Sept. 10th. Join us to register as many Bronx residents as possible. If you’re interested and available, please join us! Email Kamaub@bronxdefenders.org or meet us at 3pm at…
MSNBC: Rethinking the ‘war on drugs’
Monday saw two major legal developments in the so-called “war on drugs.” First, a judge in New York City ruled that the police department’s stop-and-frisk policy violated the Constitution in targeting a disproportionate number of blacks and Hispanics. Then, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the end of mandatory federal prison sentences for low-level, non-violent drug…
The Bronx Defenders hails today’s ‘Stop and Frisk’ decision by federal Judge Scheindlin
The Bronx Defenders hails today’s decision by federal Judge Scheindlin as a critical first step in recognizing and tackling the widespread abuses in the NYPD’s stop and frisk program. In landmark decisions in two class action lawsuits, a federal judge ruled today that the New York City Police Department has violated the constitutional rights of…
Robin Steinberg Responds to New York Times Article “Bronx Courts Trim Big Backlog, With Outside Judge at the Helm”
In his July 29, 2013 article, Ray Rivera suggests that Justice DiMango’s “blockbuster part” has provided meaningful relief for the backlog of cases in the Bronx criminal courts. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the judge’s efforts may have closed a handful of cases, focusing on felony trials alone misses the larger and…
Karen Smolar taught at the July session of the NDCC’s Trial Practice Institute
Karen Smolar, Trial Chief of The Bronx Defenders, taught as a faculty member at the National Criminal Defense College, Trial Practice Institute, in the July 2013 session. This session, which took place in Macon, Georgia, was limited to just 96 participants. Topics covered in the institute included client interviews, jury selection, direct and cross examination,…
MUNCHED, A Disturbingly Hilarious Play – June 27th, 2013
The Bronx Defenders invites you to a very special community event in celebration of National Reunification Month, honoring families who have been involved in the child welfare system. There will be a stage! A piano! And Patricia R. Floyd from Law & Order. We encourage you to attend and bring friends, family and colleagues. We…
Annual Celebration of Families – June 21, 2013
Annual Celebration of Families is an event to celebrate families who have recently reunified or are about to be reunified. Families enjoy a meal together, play games, celebrate their successes, and go home with a framed family portrait. What we thought would be a little party turned out to be an incredibly powerful moment for…
City & State NY – Groups Target Koo and Rivera On Community Safety Act
In advance of an expected City Council vote on the proposed Community Safety Act next week, constituents and community groups will be holding actions in the districts of Council Members Peter Koo and Joel Rivera, calling on them to support the bills to ban racial profiling and establish an Inspector General for the New York…
New York Daily News: Bronx groups urge Councilman Joel Rivera to back legislation calling for an end to discriminatory profiling
Bronx groups urge Councilman Joel Rivera to back legislation calling for an end to discriminatory profiling Rivera has not taken a stance on bills intended to curb profiling during stop-and-frisks and establish an Inspector General for the NYPD Bronx community groups are calling on the City Council Majority Leader to back a pair of bills…
Char-Koosta News: Presentation explores affects of stress with law enforcement, arrests
PABLO — In 2011 the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Defense office received an award from the Center for Holistic Defense sponsored by the Bronx Public Defenders office in New York for technical assistance that uses a holistic approach that allows the tribal defense team to be client-centered with limited financial resources. The award is…
Announcing the new Bronx Defenders website
The Bronx Defenders is pleased to announce the launch of our new website! We hope you can take the time to explore our site and support the work that we do for and alongside our clients, their families and their communities. Key highlights from this new site include: How We Work – an interactive visual…
Alex Sierck spoke on a webinar panel “Defender Initiatives in Indian Country”
On June 11, 2013, Alex Sierck, Project Director of the Center for Holistic Defense, spoke on a webinar panel entitled “Defender Initiatives in Indian Country.” The panel discussed how recent legislation has affected tribal courts and the tribal defender community and examined how two tribal defender initiatives are enhancing the provision of justice and improving…
Gotham Schools: Community members carve out a role in school guards’ training
When Lynn Sanchez, a Bronx parent activist, challenged police and education officials to address persistent school climate problems during a public forum on school safety last year, she did not think they would say yes. And yet just months later, Sanchez was sitting with safety agents during one of their training sessions — which, for…
The Take Away: Searching for Justice in the South Bronx
As the executive director of the Bronx Defenders, a public defense and legal services organization, Robin Steinberg has spent her career demanding justice for the residents of the poorest Congressional district in the nation. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, the landmark Supreme Court case that requires states to provide attorneys…
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…
ABA Journal: Stop-and-frisk project reaches ‘appalling’ conclusion: No right to misdemeanor trial in Bronx, NY
A special Bronx Defenders project—in which a Wall Street law firm was lined up to help those accused of misdemeanors after arrests resulting from questionable stop-and-frisk tactics by police—has reached a grim conclusion. Contrary to what the U.S. Constitution and New York state law requires, there is effectively no right to trial or meaningful court…
ThinkProgress: How Bronx Prosecutors Avert Any Challenge To Marijuana Stop-And-Frisk Arrests
In New York City, marijuana is the most common reason for arrest, even though only possession of marijuana in public view is a crime. A dramatic spike in these arrests has accompanied the rise of the New York Police Department’s controversial stop and frisk tactic, and an equally controversial reported tactic of considering the marijuana…
New York Times: Federal Suit Claims Police Distort Marijuana Searches to Create Misdemeanors
One man was walking home with groceries. Another was on a break from his job at a meat market. A third was walking down the street listening to headphones. That is when the men say police officers confronted them, sometimes violently, searched their clothing and discovered small amounts of marijuana, according to a federal civil…
New York Times: Waiting and Waiting…for Justice
LATE in the summer of 2011, police officers in New York City arrested a full-time college student named Luis in the lobby of his apartment building in the Bronx and charged him with two misdemeanor offenses, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest. Luis, though, wasn’t guilty of either — a fact supported by a video…
New York Times: In Misdemeanor Cases, Long Waits for Elusive Trials
Francisco Zapata keeps a copy of the Constitution on his cellphone. So when the police stopped, frisked and charged him with misdemeanor marijuana possession, he wanted what that cellphone document promised. “I was under the assumption,” he said, “that if I kept going back to court, eventually I would get my day in court.” But…
Huffington Post’s The Blog: South Bronx Continues to Organize Against ‘Stop & Frisk’
Julio Pabon, Candidate for City Council South Bronx, NY This last Thursday, April 18, 2013, I attended a Bronx Town Hall Meeting on Community Safety & NYPD Accountability. The event was held at the Vacamas Glow Classic Center located at 286 East 156th St., located in the heart of the Melrose projects in the South…
South Bronx Podcast Series: Hospitalized After a Stop-and-Frisk
David Berrios becomes an activist after a violent encounter with the police lands him in the hospital. Join David at our Bronx Town Hall on April 18th to change the NYPD: on.fb.me/YfcGnO Produced by Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein Music: Clips from Tutto Finito Jazz “Sol Nocturno 1”
South Bronx Podcast Series: A Sidewalk Strip Search
The NYPD stopped, searched, and humiliated Angel Aviles and his wife last summer — for no reason. In this episode, Angel tells his story. He now advocates for police reform with the Bronx Defenders Organizing Project (www.bronxdefenders.org). Recording, editing, and production by Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein. Music by Brotmond, Cydonia Pianoversion.