South Bronx Residents, Elected Officials Demand End to Stop-and-Frisk Abuses and Discriminatory Policing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 18, 2013 Contact: Joanna Bernstein, The Bronx Defenders, 215-603-3113 or joannab@bronxdefenders.org South Bronx Residents, Elected Officials Demand End to Stop-and-Frisk Abuses and Discriminatory Policing Senator Gustavo Rivera, City Council members Melissa Mark-Viverito and Annabel Palma, and hundreds of community members call for reforms Bronx, NY – At a Bronx town hall…
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.
HuffPost Live: Alejandro Fernandez talks Stop-And-Frisk
Gbenga Akinnagbe from ‘The Wire’ joins HuffPost Live to talk about his recent court victory, challenging stop & frisk policies and intolerance for free speech. Hosted by: Alicia Menendez Guests: Gbenga Akinnagbe @GbengaAkinnagbe (New York, NY) Actor Matt Sledge @MGSledge (New York , NY) HuffPost National Reporter Alejandro Fernandez @BronxDefenders (New York, NY) Staff Attorney…
South Bronx Podcast Series: Levele Pointer, “I felt totally violated”
Levele Pointer, South Bronx resident, member of the Bronx Defenders Organizing Project and a NYHRE peer educator, shares his stories of getting stopped and frisked in New York City. This is the first in a series of South Bronx stories about the harmful impact on individuals and communities of discriminatory police practices. Recording, editing, and…
Kate Rubin in Huffington Post’s The Blog on “Bloomberg’s Rockefeller Legacy’
February 21, 2013 Mayor Bloomberg came out swinging at his final State of the City address last Thursday, recapping his achievements and defending his policy decisions. About the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk program he said, “We have a responsibility to conduct them, and as long as I am mayor, we will not shirk from that responsibility.”…
Ashley Kaper gave testimony to the City Council regarding Secure Communities legislation
On January 25th, 2013, Ashley Kaper gave testimony at the New City Council in support of proposed legislation limiting New York City’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Secure Communities” Program. Written Comments of The Bronx Defenders New York City Council Committee on Immigration January 25, 2013 Hearing on: Int. No. 982, A Local Law to amend…
Democracy Now!: Bronx Residents Accosted by NYPD Win Landmark Court Ruling Deeming “Stop and Frisk” Tactic Illegal
A federal judge has ruled that New York City police are not allowed to routinely stop pedestrians outside of private residential buildings in the Bronx. The stops are part of the so-called Clean Halls program, which has prompted allegations of police harassment by some residents who say they are being accosted outside of the buildings…
News 12 Bronx: Argument against stop-and-frisk picking up steam
Watch Bronx Defenders Staff Attorney Molly Kovel discuss the recent court ruling. MELROSE – The attorneys who sponsored a lawsuit against the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy are supporting their claims today after a federal judge ruled the program must come to an end in certain buildings. The attorneys are representing 13 Bronx residents involved in the…
Christian Lassiter presented testimony on Stop & Frisk to the City Council
As presented to City Council Civil Rights Committee: “Stop and Frisk Profiling” Brooklyn College October 23, 2012 Written Testimony My name is Christian Lassiter and I am a Staff Attorney in the Criminal Defense Practice at The Bronx Defenders. I would like to say thank you to the members and staff of the Civil Rights…
The Bronx Ink – Bronx District Attorney Curbs Stop-and-Frisk Abuses
The Bronx District Attorney’s office became the first in the city to openly question the validity of some stop-and-frisk arrests, by requiring police officers to verify each one in person before charges are rendered. In the past, arresting police officers had to fill out a sworn statement and routine paperwork. Now, officers will now also…
Watch Kate Rubin on Sunday, Sept. 9th discuss NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy
Both Sides of the Bars: “The Bronx Defenders on Stop and Frisk” Watch The Bronx Defenders’ Kate Rubin, Director of Policy & Community Development, and The Fortune Society’s Glenn E. Martin discuss the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy and its effect on NYC communities. You can watch this episode of “Both Sides of the Bars” on Sunday,…
The Guardian: New York mayor and NYPD back marijuana decriminalisation proposal
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly have backed legislation proposed by governor Andrew Cuomo that would reduce the penalty for possessing small amounts of marijuana in public view from a crime to a misdemeanor. Cuomo’s proposal is an attempt to reduce the number of people exposed to a criminal charge…
The Atlantic: In New York, a 20-Year-Old Policy Suddenly Prompts a Lawsuit
In late March, three civil rights groups filed a class action lawsuit against the New York City police department, alleging that a little-known crime-fighting program violated the constitutional rights of tens of thousands of New Yorkers. The program, called Operation Clean Halls, permits police to conduct vertical patrols inside and around private residences, seeking out…
New York Daily News: New study by Bronx public defenders claims NYPD cops made hundreds of unlawful marijuana arrests
Bronx Defenders says 41% of those arrested for pot had their rights violated. In New York, possession of a small amount of marijuana is only a misdemeanor when the pot is displayed in public. When the substance is concealed, it becomes a violation punishable by a fine – even when an officer pulls the pot…
The New York Times: Stop and Frisk, Continued
On our ‘Clean Halls’ class action lawsuit with co-counsel NYCLU and LatinoJustice PRLDEF – The Bloomberg administration and its police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, have been disturbingly dismissive of complaints about the city’s program of stops, frisks and arrests that is ensnaring hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers each year. Civil rights lawsuits may now force…
New York Law Journal: Class Action Seeks to Halt NYPD’s ‘Clean Halls’ Program
A number of New York City residents have filed a federal class action lawsuit challenging “Operation Clean Halls,” a program permitting the police, with the consent of landlords, to patrol thousands of private apartment buildings and stop people accused of trespassing and other illegal activity. “NYPD officers routinely detain residents of Clean Halls buildings and…
The Village Voice: NYPD Clean Halls Program Faces Legal Challenge
Later this morning, civil liberties advocates will announce a new challenge to the controversial NYPD program of patrolling the hallways of thousands of privately-owned buildings. Private owners enroll in the program, known as Operation Clean Halls, which has swelled in Manhattan alone to at least 3,895 buildings. The program envisioned as a way for police…
NY1: Lawsuit Claims NYPD “Clean Halls” Program Violates Civil Rights
Civil rights advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the New York City Police Department over a controversial program that allows officers to patrol private apartment buildings. The suit, submitted by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Latino Justice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, as well as lawyers with the Bronx Defenders, allege…
WNYC: NYPD Conducts Suspicionless Stops in Private Buildings: Suit
A federal class action was filed against New York City and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on Wednesday for what plaintiffs allege are suspicionless stops within private residential buildings. Under the NYPD’s enforcement of a program known as Operation Clean Halls, a landlord enters into an agreement with the NYPD, which grants officers permission to patrol…
Reuters: U.S. judge limits stop and frisk searches in New York’s Bronx
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the New York Police Department to immediately stop conducting trespass stops outside certain residential buildings in the borough of the Bronx without “reasonable suspicion” that an individual is engaged in criminal activity. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin issued her ruling in the narrowest of three main lawsuits challenging New…
Amsterdam News: Hands Off: Black community responds to U.S. District Court ruling of NYPD’s “Clean Halls” as unconstitutional
Could this be the first step to eliminating “stop and frisk?” On Tuesday morning, a U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge ruled that the New York Police Department’s “Clean Halls Program” violated the constitutional rights of New York City residents. According to Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, for years the NYPD…
The Huffington Post: Stop-And-Frisk Without Suspicion Must Cease In The Bronx, Judge Says
NEW YORK — The New York City Police Department likely turned a blind eye to violations of the constitutional rights of thousands of individuals detained at private residential buildings in the Bronx in a stop-and-frisk program that’s under assault in the courts, a federal judge said Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said the department’s…
AlterNet: Hypocritical NYPD Continues Racist Pot Arrest Crusade
Despite a well-publicized police order instructing officers not to use bogus pretexts to justify marijuana arrests, New York City remains the pot-bust capital of the United States. Preliminary figures released in late November indicated a slight decline in arrests for misdemeanor possession of marijuana in the two months since Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told police…
WNYC: Marijuana Arrests Dip After NYPD Order, But Allegations of Improper Arrests Continue
Marijuana arrests in New York City are still high, but slowing down slightly. Police officers made 13 percent fewer arrests for low-level marijuana possession in public view after Police Commissioner Ray Kelly issued an order forbidding officers to arrest people for marijuana found in people’s clothes. But the dip in marijuana arrests hasn’t stopped allegations…
Robin spoke at WNYC’s Greene Space on a panel discussing Stop and Frisk
Robin Steinberg spoke at WNYC’s Greene Space on a panel discussing Stop and Frisk. This panel, a part of The NEXT New York Conversation, discussed both sides of the controversial police strategy and how this procedure affects New Yorkers. “Even as violent crime rates in New York have dropped dramatically in the past 15 years,…