Category: Press Statements

BxD and attorneys from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP collaborate on amicus brief

On behalf of 15 organizations supporting the rights, interests, and health of parents and pregnant women, The Bronx Defenders Family Defense Practice, along with attorneys at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, sought leave to file an amicus brief in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, last week. Our brief argues that the New York […]

Lindsay Ferguson and Jenny Semmel to join panel discussion at John Jay College

Bronx Defenders Social Worker Lindsay Ferguson and Criminal Defense Attorney Jenny Semmel will join a panel discussion at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, entitled “Mass Incarceration and Its Mental Health Implications,” on Thursday, March 19, 2015. The panel will be chaired by Professor George Adreopoulous, Director of the Center for International Human Rights. Jenny and […]

Kate Rubin and Scott Levy testified before City Council on community policing

Bronx Defenders Managing Director of the Civil Action Practice Kate Rubin, together with Fundamental Fairness Project Director Scott Levy, submitted written comments on behalf of The Bronx Defenders to New York City Council’s Committee on Public Safety on March 3, 2015, discussing key issues to consider in community policing. The testimony describes two critical lenses through which […]

Emma Ketteringham to join panel at Cardozo “Policing, Conflict, and Change” conference

Bronx Defenders Managing Director of the Family Defense Practice Emma Ketteringham will be presenting on a panel at Cardozo School of Law’s “Policing, Conflict, and Change” Conference next Thursday, March 12, 2015. The conference will be an all-day event with four panel discussions surrounding the state of policing today, the development of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, […]

Kate Rubin to speak at Jon Jay panel on community consequences of incarceration

On Thursday, March 5, 2015, John Jay College of Criminal Justice will be hosting the fifth installment of the 2014-15 PRI Occasional Series on Reentry Research, highlighting issues raised by the National Academy of Sciences’ groundbreaking report, “The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Causes and Consequences.” Bronx Defenders Managing Director of the Civil […]

Runa Rajagopal to present at ABA National Summit on Collateral Consequences

Bronx Defenders Civil Action Supervising Attorney and Team Leader Runa Rajagopal will be leading a panel on Friday, February 27th at the First National Summit on Collateral Consequences in Washington, DC, presented by the ABA Criminal Justice Section in collaboration with the National Institute of Justice. Runa’s panel, entitled “Real Life Collateral Consequence: Stories from the Field,” will […]

Justine Olderman Presented Testimony to City Council on Evaluating the Effectiveness of Indigent Defense

But in truth, traditional metrics fail to adequately measure effective representation…We cannot talk about caseloads, qualifications, training, or supervision without taking into account the radical change in our responsibility to our clients. We must first recognize that no matter how well organized, staffed, trained, supervised, and evaluated we are, we are not meeting minimum standards […]

Keston Jones to speak on “The State of the Black Family” panel at Penn State Law

Bronx Defenders Parent Advocate and Focus on Fathers Project Coordinator Keston Jones will be joining a panel discussion at Penn State Law, organized by the Black Law Students Association, on Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Penn State Law is hosting this program as part of Black History Month to address how Black families are treated throughout the […]

What You Need to Know About the New Rules Governing New York City’s Jails

The New York City Board of Correction (BOC) is the oversight body tasked with ensuring Minimum Standards for conditions of confinement in New York City’s jails. On January 13th, the BOC approved a series of changes to the Minimum Standards. Much attention has been focused on the BOC’s conditional pledge to end the use of […]

Statement on Music Video

The Bronx Defenders truly regrets having been involved with the “Hands Up” video.  Our organization does not condone violence against the police. The video was released without The Bronx Defenders authorization or approval.  Since the video’s release, we have made numerous attempts through our attorneys to have the video taken down.  We will continue in our efforts […]