The Appeal: The NYPD ‘Cancelled’ Police Court Appearances, Leaving People To Sit In Jail
“Over the next four weeks, the city’s criminal courts began addressing the backlog. But then the NYPD issued its directives canceling court appearances. “You have individuals who have been in a kind of indefinite pre-inquiry-of-any-kind detention” because of the COVID-19 court shutdowns, said Ann Mathews, managing director of the criminal defense practice at the Bronx…
The Bronx Defenders Reaches Settlement in Bronx Court Delay Case
Settlement will ensure Bronx Courts uphold people’s constitutional rights to due process and speedy trials. ** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ** CONTACT: Anna Kim (annakim@bronxdefenders.org) 646-504-2977 AUGUST 9, 2018 NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Bronx Defenders, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, and Morrison & Foerster, LLP announced a settlement with the defendants in Trowbridge v….
amNewYork: City’s public defenders urge lawmakers to pass ‘critical’ criminal justice reforms
“The time for meaningful reform has come. Impacted communities and the greater public – your constituents – now recognize the profound injustices that Albany has permitted to exist for decades, while other states have taken action to fix the problems. We need genuine change, and we need it this year.” The Bronx Defenders joined with…
The Bronx Defenders responds to Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State address
New York, NY — On January 3, 2017, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo delivered the annual State of the State address in Albany and unveiled a package of criminal justice reform proposals. Justine Olderman, Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders, responded: “The Governor’s package of criminal justice proposals represents an important acknowledgement that we cannot have…
Case Challenging Delays in Bronx Court Can Proceed with New Plaintiffs
“The Bronx Defenders won a partial victory in its suit challenging notoriously long delays for misdemeanor trials in the Bronx. But it will have to proceed with new plaintiffs. The public defender organization filed its federal lawsuit in the spring, claiming the delays violate the U.S. Constitution’s right to a speedy trial…” Listen to the…
Judge slaps down state’s defense of ‘structural and systematic’ delays in Bronx trials by invoking segregationist South
“A judge compared state lawyers’ arguments in a case on court delays to the pre-Civil Rights Era South, suggesting Wednesday their position against federal intervention might have been used by segregationists. The Bronx Defenders alleged in a May lawsuit that those in the borough facing misdemeanor charges suffer from “structural and systematic” delays in their…
Trowbridge v. DiFiore
On August 9, 2018, The Bronx Defenders along with Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLP and Morrison & Foerster, LLP secured a settlement in Trowbridge v. DiFiore on behalf of New Yorkers who are affected by systematic delays in the processing of misdemeanor cases in the Bronx. According to the terms of the agreement, the…
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,…
Public Defenders In The Bronx, N.Y., File Lawsuit Over Court Delays
“Public defenders in the Bronx filed a lawsuit Tuesday against lawmakers in New York. They charge that courts are chronically understaffed, jeopardizing the right to a speedy trial for many defendants.” Listen to the story here. For more on the lawsuit, see our press release.
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…