No One in NYC Should Be Forced to Make These Choices

Karume James, a staff attorney in our Criminal Defense Practice, published the following piece in The Huffington Post about the need for reduced fare MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers and the impact such a program would have on our clients.

“Among the many “broken windows” cases we get at The Bronx Defenders, I’ve always found arrests for turnstile jumping particularly outrageous and counterproductive. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the South Bronx is the poorest congressional district in the country – almost 38% of its residents live under the poverty line, and the percentage is even higher for children. For many low-income New Yorkers, choosing between a meal and a MetroCard, risking arrest for jumping a turnstile or missing work, are daily dilemmas.”

Read the original article in The Huffington Post.