Tag: courts

The Chief Leader: Public Defenders, Court-Officers Union Seek Delay in Courts’ Reopenings

“In this way, the Plan discriminates against people with disabilities who need sufficient notice to seek and receive accommodations or modifications prior to an appearance in order to obtain equal access to the court,” according to the lawsuit. In its filing, The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, New York County Defender […]

ABA Journal: New York City public defenders file suit to halt in-person court appearances

“The suit was filed by the Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, the Bronx Defenders, New York County Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and Queens Defenders. The defendant is the New York State Office of Court Administration. Office of Court Administration spokesperson Lucian Chalfen told the Queens Daily Eagle that public defender groups […]

Queens Daily Eagle: Public defenders sue state to stop in-person criminal proceedings during COVID crisis

“Until Monday, arraignments, case conferences and other criminal court proceedings were handled remotely, with defendants appearing by video conference since March. The plaintiffs include The Legal Aid Society, Queens Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and New York county Defender Service. The organizations, which represent low-income defendants in criminal […]

Law360: NYC Tenant Bar, Judge Clash Over Looming In-Person Trials

“Jared Trujillo, president of ALAA, added Monday that he will not send his members to court until there has been a “meaningful” meeting between the court’s public health experts and outside experts hired by the unions. Hundreds of attorneys could potentially withhold their labor citywide, according to Trujillo, depending when other boroughs move to resume […]

Law360: Legal Aid Sues To Stop Criminal Courts Reopening In NYC

“The suit comes on the eve of a scheduled July 15 reopening of criminal courts in the city. OCA announced its plans in an administrative order last week, according to the complaint, which was filed in New York federal court. Legal Aid and the other groups — which include Brooklyn Defender Services, the Bronx Defenders, New […]

NYC Public Defenders File Federal Lawsuit to Halt OCA’s Rushed and Dangerous Decision to Reconvene In-Person, Non-Emergency Court Matters

July 14, 2020  Redmond Haskins, The Legal Aid Society (RHaskins@legal-aid.org) Daniel Ball, Brooklyn Defender Services (dball@bds.org) Esther Kao, The Bronx Defenders (estherk@bronxdefenders.org) Lupe Todd-Medina, New York County Defender Services (LToddmedina@nycds.org) Sam McCann, The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (SMccann@ndsny.org) Hettie Powell, Queens Defenders, (hpowell@queensdefenders.org)  NYC Public Defenders File Federal Lawsuit to Halt OCA’s Rushed and […]

BxD v OCA

The Bronx Defenders, The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, New York County Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and Queens Defenders filed a lawsuit today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the New York State Office of Court Administration (OCA) to prevent the rushed, dangerous, and […]