Violeta Rivera Presented Testimony at City Council on Mental Health Needs of Immigrants in NYC
New York City Council Joint Hearing: Committee on Immigration and Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction Re: Oversight- Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Immigrants in NYC October 8th, 2019 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Violeta Rivera, LMSW, Immigration Social Worker Chairs Menchaca and Ayala, my name is Violeta Rivera and I…
Cuny Law Review: Accidents Happen: Exposing Fallacies in Child Protection Abuse Cases and Reuniting Families Through Aggressive Litigation
“In New York City, much needed-critical attention has been paid to the racial disproportionality and overreach of the city’s child welfare system, the Administration for Children’s Services (“ACS”), and its conflation of poverty with neglect. The vast majority of child protection cases brought in New York City allege child neglect rather than abuse. This article…
Scott Levy Presented Testimony at Hearing on the Implementation of Discovery Reform
The New York State Senate Standing Committee on Codes Hearing on the Implementation of Pre-Trial Reform September 9, 2019 Testimony of Scott D. Levy, Chief Policy Counsel THE BRONX DEFENDERS This spring, New York passed historic comprehensive discovery reform. BxD applauds the New York State Assembly, Senate, and the Governor — Senator Bailey and Assembly…
Diary of a Civil Public Defender: Critical Lessons for Achieving Transformative Change on Behalf of Communities
“As civil public defenders, we venture into courts, struggles and conflicts where no constitutional right to a lawyer, and very few other protections exist to ensure fairness in process and justice on behalf of the people we represent. We fight for the basic necessities that are destabilized or deprived once an individual is criminally or…
Rosa Cohen-Cruz Presented Testimony at City Council on ICE Out of New York Courts
New York City Council Committee on Immigration Jointly with the Committee on Justice System Hearing re: Oversight – ICE out of New York Courts April 10, 2019 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Rosa Cohen-Cruz Good afternoon, my name is Rosa Cohen-Cruz and I am a Padilla Supervisor in the Immigration Practice at The…
Written Testimony to the Committee on General Welfare: Impact of Marijuana Policies on Child Welfare
New York City Council Committee on General Welfare jointly with the Committee on Hospitals Oversight – Impact of Marijuana Policies on Child Welfare April 10, 2019 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Emma S. Ketteringham, Managing Director, Family Defense Practice Anne Venhuizen, Supervising Attorney, Family Defense Practice Jessica Prince, Attorney, Family Defense Practice My…
Zoe Levine Presented Testimony at City Council on Funding NYIFUP and Immigration Services
Testimony Before the New York City Council’s Committee on Immigration Regarding Council Budget March 20, 2019 Good afternoon, my name is Zoe Levine and I am the Legal Director of the Immigration Practice at The Bronx Defenders. I would like to thank the New York City Council for its consistent and generous support of immigration…
Justine Olderman Presented Testimony at City Council’s Preliminary Budget Hearing
New York City Council Committee on Justice System Preliminary Budget Hearing March 19, 2019 Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Justine Olderman, Executive Director The Bronx Defenders provides innovative, holistic, and client-centered services to low-income people of the Bronx- these services include criminal defense, family defense, immigration representation, civil legal services, social work support and…
Statement on the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Crystal Baker-Burr, our Education Attorney, spoke at a City Hall press conference with Organizing For Equity on the school-to-prison pipeline and how students of color are marginalized within the education system. Her speech is transcribed below. Our School Discipline System is Broken At the Bronx Defenders, I work with young people at the end of the…
Eli Northrup Presented Testimony at City Council on Marijuana Legalization
New York City Council Committee on Public Safety Jointly with the Committee on Justice System, the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing Hearing re: Marijuana Legalization: Equity and Justice for NYC. February 27, 2019 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Eli Northrup, Associate Special Counsel to the Criminal Defense Practice As a holistic…
Written Testimony to the Committee on Criminal Justice: Department of Correction Programming
New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice Hearing re: Oversight – Department of Correction Programming February 26, 2019 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Elizabeth Williams Good morning Chairman Powers and members of the Committee on Criminal Justice. My name is Elizabeth Williams and I am a social worker in the Criminal Defense…
Written Testimony to the Committee on Public Safety Jointly with the Committee on Justice System: Family Separation in Criminal Cases
New York City Council Committee on Public Safety Jointly with the Committee on Justice System Hearing re: Family Separation in Criminal Cases February 25, 2019 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Fallon Speaker, Eli Northrup, and Caitlin Becker As practitioners, we see firsthand the impact an arrest can have on families, especially when a…
Written Testimony to the Committee on Public Safety and Committee on Justice System: Police Discipline
New York City Council Committee on Public Safety and Committee on Justice System Joint Hearing re: Oversight – Police Discipline February 7, 2019 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Jenn Rolnick Borchetta & Oded Oren Chairman Richards, Chairman Lancman, and members of the Committees, my name is Jenn Rolnick Borchetta and I am Deputy…
Open Letter to Governor Cuomo: Principles for Bail Overhaul in 2019
In any given day, 16,000 New Yorkers are held in on bail because they cannot afford the price of their freedom. We are proud to stand with a coalition of 136 advocate groups calling for meaningful, comprehensive, and true bail reform. We must no longer accept a bail system that creates and reinforces wealth- and…
Scott Levy Presented Testimony at City Council Oversight Hearing
Scott Levy, Special counsel of the Criminal Defense Practice, presented testimony at City Council Oversight Hearing: Why Does the City Make It So Hard to Post Bail? Written Comments of The Bronx Defenders New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice & Committee on Justice System Oversight Hearing: Why Does the City Make It So Hard to…
Written Testimony to the Justice System Committee on Family Separation
New York City Council Justice System Committee New York City Council, General Welfare Hearing on Family Separation in New York City November 27, 2018 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders, By Emma Ketteringham Our Family Defense Practice has been in place since 2005 and represents parents in child protection and all of the related Family…
Dawit Getachew Testifies at Cost of Justice City Council Hearing
New York City Council Committee on Justice System Oversight Hearing on Cost of Justice September 27, 2018 Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Dawit Getachew Chairman Lancman and members of the Committee, my name is Dawit Getachew, and I am a criminal defense attorney and Associate Special Counsel at The Bronx Defenders. I am grateful…
Deb Lolai Testified Before City Council on Sexual Abuse and Harassment in City Jails
New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice, Committee on Justice System & Committee on Women Joint Oversight Hearing on Sexual Abuse and Harassment in City Jails September 6, 2018 Testimony of The Bronx Defenders By Deborah Lolai Good morning, Chair Lancman, Chair Powers, Chair Rosenthal and committee members. My name is Deborah Lolai and…
CUNY Law Review: Family Defense in the Age of Black Lives Matter
“All families have a constitutional right to be together, free from the unwarranted interference of third parties, particularly the state…This fundamental right recognizes the inherent value in family ties, which provide a connection to culture and identity, and serve as a protective social bond.” Erin Cloud published “Family Defense in the Age of Black Lives…
Adam Shoop Presented Testimony at City Council Committee on Public Safety
Adam Shoop, Legal Director of the Civil Action Practice, presented testimony at the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety for a hearing regarding Int. 1000-2015, a local law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the police department to report seized property data on an…
The Bronx Defenders’ Perspective on Police Body-Worn Cameras
The essence of any police body-worn camera program should be the need for increased police accountability. Economically marginalized communities, particularly communities of color, have long been over-policed, subjecting their residents to degrees of state oversight and intervention that would never be tolerated in suburban communities. Examples of this have included so-called “broken windows policing,” recently discredited…
The Problem with NYC’s Bail Reform
Our Executive Director, Robin Steinberg, published the following piece in The Marshall Project about the city’s proposal to reform the bail system: “Yesterday, the city unveiled a plan to largely eliminate cash bail for New Yorkers charged with low-level or nonviolent crimes. This long overdue step has the potential to reshape pretrial detention in New York City…
The Week: Preventing another Eric Garner tragedy: 6 simple reforms we can implement right now
In the last two weeks, grand juries failed to indict the white police officers who killed Michael Brown and Eric Garner. These decisions have exposed deep-seated issues of race, class, and power that still pervade our society. We should keep protesting injustice where we see it, as thousands have done across the country. At the…
Salon: “I can’t breathe!” Police overreach, Eric Garner and the chokehold of racism
Read Bronx Defenders Summer Legal Intern Shaun Ossei-Owusu’s powerful commentary on police brutality in New York City, responding to the recent death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner at the hands of the NYPD. Another unarmed man dies after cops take it too far. Inside the chokehold’s sordid, deadly history. The streets, social media, and the…
Emma Ketteringham in The Huffington Post’s The Blog: Test and Report: Bad for Children and Families
In a recent piece in The Boston Globe, Professor Elizabeth Bartholet calls for states to test infants for illegal drugs and report those with positive screens to child welfare authorities so they can be taken away from their families and placed in the foster care system. Bartholet’s presumption that evidence of drug use is evidence…