The Verge: ICE rigged its algorithms to keep immigrants in jail, claims lawsuit
A new lawsuit claims Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rigged software to create a “secret no-release policy” for people suspected of breaking immigration laws. ICE’s New York office uses a risk assessment algorithm to recommend that an arrestee be released or detained until a hearing. But the New York Civil Liberties Union and Bronx Defenders say the…
The Intercept: ICE’s New York Office Uses A Rigged Algorithm To Keep Virtually All Arrestees In Detention. The ACLU Says It’s Unconstitutional
IN 2013, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly began using a software tool to recommend whether people arrested over immigration violations should be let go after 48 hours or detained. The software’s algorithm supposedly pored over a variety of risk factors before outputting a decision. A new lawsuit, however, filed by the New York Civil Liberties…
Buzzfeed: The Trump Administration Now Jails Nearly Every Immigrant It Arrests In New York – Including Those Who Don’t Pose A Threat, A New Lawsuit Alleges
This has had a massive effect in New York, the lawsuit alleges: In the four years prior to the algorithm change, about half of immigrants arrested in New York who were regarded as low risk were released until their trial. Now 96% of them are held in jail for as long as three months, the…
Lawsuit: ICE Office in NYC Has Secret No-Release Policy
Lawsuit: ICE Office in NYC Has Secret No-Release Policy Exclusive Data Shows ICE’s New York Field Office Denies Release in Virtually All Cases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2020 CONTACT: Ben Schaefer, bschaefer@nyclu.org, 212-607-3372; Ryan Karerat, rkarerat@bronxdefenders.org, (347) 842-1251 NEW YORK – The New York Civil Liberties Union and The Bronx Defenders today announced a…
R.C. v. The City of New York – Class Action
The Bronx Defenders and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP represent a class of people in R.C. v. The City of New York. This case challenges the NYPD’s use and disclosure of sealed arrest records. This case alleges that the NYPD uses sealed arrest records for internal investigative purposes and shares sealed records externally with…
Law360: Challenge To NYPD’s Use of Sealed Records Gets Go-Ahead
“A New York judge has certified a class of individuals who contend the New York City Police Department has unlawfully used information contained in their sealed arrest records when investigating other cases. Justice Alexander M. Tisch of the New York Supreme Court for New York County determined Thursday that clients of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton…
New York Daily News: Have a sealed arrest in NYC? You may now be in a class action suit against the NYPD
“A case challenging the NYPD’s access to sealed arrests is now a class action lawsuit that could involve millions of people, a judge ruled Thursday. The Bronx Defenders, which filed the suit, said the decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank is a sign the NYPD should reform its rules regarding arrests that were…
Huge Class Certified in Case Against NYPD Sets Up Mass Reforms to Surveillance Databases
Huge Class Certified in Case Against NYPD Sets Up Mass Reforms to Surveillance Databases Decision Means That NYPD will have to turn over information on how it uses millions of sealed arrest records FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 5, 2019 NEW YORK – A judge today certified a class in a lawsuit brought by The Bronx…
The Marshall Project: Your Arrest Was Dismissed. But It’s Still In A Police Database
“The lawsuit, which in the coming weeks may be ruled a class-action on behalf of potentially tens of thousands of New Yorkers, comes just as a nonprofit research organization releases a 50-state report revealing that in 25 states, police are allowed to access sealed or expunged arrests—and then profile you based on these past allegations that no…
Gothamist: How A Sealed Arrest Can Get You Arrested In New York
“’There are a lot of cases where people were arrested or faced prosecution, and they were innocent,’ said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, from the Bronx Defenders. “We need to protect them, and we need to protect our values that people should be presumed innocent, and they shouldn’t face the consequences [of an allegation], unless it’s been…
Court Finds NYPD Can’t Use Sealed Arrest Information Without Obtaining Court Order
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 30, 2019 NEW YORK – A judge ruled today in a putative class action lawsuit filed by The Bronx Defenders and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP that the plain language of New York law prohibits the NYPD from using sealed arrest information in its possession for law enforcement purposes without…
Joint Statement: NYIFUP Legal Providers On ICE Advancing Varick Street Hearings Without Notice, Effectively Stripping Immigrants of Their Due Process Rights
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** March 12, 2019 JOINT STATEMENT FROM NYIFUP LEGAL PROVIDERS ON ICE ADVANCING VARICK STREET HEARINGS WITHOUT NOTICE, EFFECTIVELY STRIPPING IMMIGRANTS OF THEIR DUE PROCESS RIGHTS (NEW YORK, NY) – The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, and The Bronx Defenders – New York City’s defender organizations providing free legal representation through the New York Immigrant…
The Legislative Gazette: Wrongfully accused push for discovery reform
“We can no longer accept a bail system that creates and entrenches wealth and race-based disparities and feeds mass incarceration; a speedy trial law that allows cases to languish without a realistic opportunity to have one’s day in court; or a discovery law that deprives the accused of access to the most basic information about…
New York Daily News: Advocates for criminal justice reform accuse prosecutors, state task force of falling short on bail changes
“The advocates, including The Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, the Legal Aid Society, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Citizen Action of New York, said in a statement on Monday that they are looking for ‘meaningful bail reform that protects the presumption of innocence and maximizes pretrial liberty.” Read more here
Bronx Justice News: District Attorney Darcel Clark On Criminal Justice Reform Legislation: “The Question Is Not If But How We Implement”
“DA Clark has rightly acknowledged the inevitability of discovery, bail, and speedy trial reform in New York. But acknowledgement of inevitability is not enough. The time for delay and foot-dragging is over,” The Bronx Defenders said in a statement. “Bronx-residents–particularly those from communities of color–have waited long enough for a criminal legal system that respects…
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…
New York Daily News: Defense attorneys demand tour of freezing Brooklyn federal jail
The Bronx Defenders, along with the Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services and other advocates, demand to be sent to MDC Warden Herman Quay and access the jail’s housing units, medical facilities and mess halls. “They lost the right to say that they can manage this. They lost all credibility.” Read more here.
Queens Daily Eagle: DAs, Lawmakers And Advocates Rally to Freeze ICE Out of NY Courts
“ICE arrests inside and around New York courthouses increased by 1700 percent between 2016 and 2018, according to a report by the Immigrant Defense Project. Queens and Brooklyn account for the highest number of courthouse ICE arrests in the state, the report reveals.” Read more here.
New York Daily News: Courthouse cameras violate constitutional rights, public defenders say
“Public defenders have demanded the Department of Correction disable all surveillance cameras filming their first encounters with clients amid an ongoing case over whether the recordings violate the constitutional right to an attorney.” Read more here.
WNYC: Lawsuit: Immigration Detainees Wait Average 80 Days for Court Date
“Due process requires that the government give you a hearing within a few days of seizing your car,” says Niji Jain, Impact Litigation attorney at The Bronx Defenders. “And if that’s what’s required for when your car is seized, then due process certainly requires at least the same promptness when a person is themselves locked…
WNYC: NYPD To Release Records On Seized Assets
“The NYPD initially denied a 2014 public records request from the Bronx Defenders for detailed records on seized assets. The group sued the department in 2016 under the New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). As part of the lawsuit settlement filed in state court Monday, the NYPD is agreeing to give records for one…
Wall Street Journal: NYPD Required To Return Seized Items Faster
Niji Jain, our Impact Litigation Attorney, on The Bronx Defenders’ settlement of a federal lawsuit claiming the NYPD unconstitutionally keeps money and other property long after a case is resolved. The lawsuit was initially filed to challenge the NYPD’s unconstitutional retention of property after a case is closed. The terms of this settlement, however, extend…