Data Shows Percentage of Wrongful Marijuana Arrests Rose After Kelly’s Order: Bronx Public Defenders WNYC By Ailsa Chang March 29, 2012 Public defenders in the Bronx said more than 40 percent of the marijuana arrests they investigated in their borough between May and October 2011 show violations of constitutional rights and problems with…
On March 28, 2012, with NYCLU and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, we announced a class action lawsuit to challenge NYPD’s enforcement of Operation Clean Halls, a disturbing extension of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program into private apartment buildings. From NYCLU: Class Action Lawsuit Challenges NYPD Patrols of Private Apartment Buildings March 28, 2012 — The NYPD’s enforcement of…
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…
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…
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…
Trial judges in New York are required by state law to set at least two forms of bail for criminal defendants, the state’s top court ruled Thursday. In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeals held that a trial judge erred when he set $20,000 “cash-only” bail for Shaun McManus, and dismissed his petition to…
The New York Court of Appeals today ruled in favor of Bronx Defenders client, Sean McManus, in a decision that will have widespread impact on the state criminal court system, particularly for the indigent. The decision recognizes that the statutory bail scheme in New York was created to provide flexible bail alternatives for those accused of crimes…
On February 23, 2012 at the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY Law Review hosted a panel on the bail system in New York. Michael Oppenheimer moderated the panel, entitled “Incarcerated Until Proven Guilty,” which included two sitting judges, as well as Justine Olderman. See event here
McGregor Smyth, managing attorney in the civil action practice at Bronx Defenders, discusses the recent class action suit around improper loitering violations. Listen here.
By Justine Olderman, 16 CUNY L. Rev. 9, CUNY Law Review (Winter 2012) New York City jails are currently filled with people who are serving time but haven’t been convicted of anything at all. They are there for one reason. They cannot afford the price of their bail. Bail is the single most important decision made in a…
PRESS RELEASE New York City to Pay $15 Million in Damages for Illegal Loitering Charges February 7, 2012 Yesterday a federal court in Manhattan approved a class action settlement requiring New York City to pay $15 Million Dollars to approximately 22,000 New Yorkers who were illegally charged by the New York City Police Department under…
Kate Rubin, Director of Policy & Community Development, and David Miranda, Attorney in the Civil Action Practice, spoke at the NYC Department of Probation’s First Annual Professional Development Day about helping clients understand and navigate civil legal barriers on January 24, 2012.
The Center for Holistic Defense The 2012 Holistic Defense for Public Defender Offices Technical Assistance Project Request for Proposals The Center for Holistic Defense, a project of The Bronx Defenders, is pleased to announce the release of its third annual Technical Assistance Project Request For Proposals, seeking applications from public defender offices across the country,…
East Harlem Stand Up! A Town Hall on discriminatory policing Speak Out against Stop & Frisk and discriminatory policing! Learn More about the solutions! Join your community! Thursday, January 17th, 6:30 to 8:30pm Taino Towers in the Crystal Room 240 E 123rd Street. (4/5/6 to 125th Street) Program to include: * Address by Council Member…
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…
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…
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…
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…
To the Editor: What is hidden behind the heated philosophical debate that jury nullification generates are the real people and communities affected by prosecutorial and police policies. Paul Butler properly notes the disgraceful number of marijuana possession prosecutions in New York City. But what we need to be equally aware of is that drug prosecutions…
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…
The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project is the first institutionally-provided public defender program in the country for immigrants facing deportation.
Over the past year, the New York City Department of Corrections (NYCDOC) has quietly implemented a massive expansion in the number of solitary confinement units on Rikers Island. By the end of 2011, the number of “punitive segregation” cells at Rikers will have grown by 45 percent, from 681 to a total of 990 cells….
On October 29, McGregor Smyth, Managing Attorney of our Civil Action Practice, spoke about the civil consequences of conviction at the 2011 Symposium “Sentencing Law: Rhetoric & Reality” at University of Pennsylvania Law School. For more information: http://www.pennumbra.com/symposia/
Robin Steinberg spoke on a panel on Systemic Reform at the Innovations in Criminal Justice Summit in Chicago on Wednesday, September 28, 2011. For more information please click here.
