Tag: coronavirus
Filter Magazine: NY Gov. Cuomo Signs Away Bail Reforms Despite COVID-19 Decarceration Calls
“After the reforms took effect, criminal justice experts found they were working well in keeping people out of jail. “People were going home to their families and their jobs and their kids, not spending time in a jail cell,” Scott Levy of the Bronx Defenders told Filter. “The sky was not falling. There was a ton […]
NBC: Jails are releasing inmates because of coronavirus. New York just took a step to lock more people up.
“Reform advocates are also troubled by the timing of the changes, adopted during a pandemic that had spread to several local jails. The outbreaks in lockups have forced authorities to find ways to reduce jail populations; Cuomo, a Democrat, has promised to approve the release of 1,100 inmates held on technical parole violations. The bail […]
Bronx Defenders Wins Immediate Release of 3 Individuals Vulnerable to COVID-19 in NYC Jails
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** Bronx Defenders Wins Immediate Release of 3 Individuals Vulnerable to COVID-19 in NYC Jails April 8, 2020 CONTACT: Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders, 917-635-4326, rkarerat@bronxdefenders.org (NEW YORK, NY) – A judge today ordered the immediate release of three people detained in New York City jails who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 in […]
Truthout: It’s Impossible to “Distance” in ICE Detention. Doctors Say Free All Detainees.
“Experts in immigration law say that this is one of the fundamental misunderstandings people in the U.S. have about ICE detention: Despite the administration’s rhetoric, ICE does not actually have the authority to detain people in the name of public safety. The agency can only detain people for allegedly violating immigration laws. “It’s something that […]
NYC Defenders Condemn Effort To Gut Progressive Bail Reforms In Emergency Budget
April 1, 2020 Contact: Jared Chausow, Brooklyn Defender Services (JChausow@bds.org) Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders (RKarerat@bronxdefenders.org) Redmond Haskins, The Legal Aid Society (RHaskins@legal-aid.org) Sam McCann, The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (SMccann@ndsny.org) Lupe Todd-Medina, New York County Defender Services (LToddmedina@nycds.org) ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** NYC DEFENDERS CONDEMN EFFORT TO GUT PROGRESSIVE BAIL REFORMS IN EMERGENCY […]
Slate: Cuomo’s Bail Reform Reversal Risks Explosive Coronavirus Spread in Jails
“The governor’s proposal also permits pretrial detention for a much wider range of offenses and allows judges to make guesses about the future “dangerousness” of a defendant (the likelihood that they will commit a new violent crime) based on the “weight of the evidence,” which flouts the presumption of innocence before a case goes to […]
The Intercept: Rikers Island Prisoners Being Offered PPE And $6 An Hour To Dig Mass Graves
“Justine Olderman, executive director of Bronx Defenders, a public defender organization, recently described the conditions at Rikers to The Intercept: “You have a situation where all the protocols that are coming out of the Centers for Disease Control cannot be enacted: There are broken sinks, there’s no hand sanitizer, people don’t have access to soap, and at […]
Politico: Public defenders raise civil rights concerns as more court proceedings move online
“But while the expansion of remotely-administered justice in New York’s criminal courts is seen by many as an important measure amid public health concerns, it is raising civil rights concerns as in-person appearances are crucial to the criminal justice process. “It creates this barrier to representation,” said Ilona Coleman, legal director of the Bronx Defenders’ […]
City Limits: Her Husband’s in ICE Custody. She Knew Something Was Wrong When He Didn’t Call.
“Many immigration courts have closed. Lawyers are not visiting detainees. And the situation now is like being in a hurricane, when the rain stops the real impact will be known,” said Francisco Collazos, Immigrant Families Together co-founder. Organizations such as Immigrant Families Together are currently working to identify how many detainees may be at greatest […]
Documented: Early Arrival: Judge Orders Immigrants Released from Detention Due to COVID-19
“A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of 10 immigrants held in county jails in New Jersey due to the coronavirus. All of them were at acute risk due to their underlying health conditions. The petition for the release was filed by the Brooklyn Defender Services. U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres agreed with […]