Giants: Giants players partner with RISE to spread word on importance of voting through “Team of Teams” initiative
“This year, the New York Giants are a team of teams. During an unprecedented offseason, players and coaches split themselves into nine groups, each one paired with an organization in a dedicated region within New York and New Jersey. These community partners have a focus on racial injustice, criminal justice reform, education and economic advancement,…
New York Daily News: NYPD quietly shuts down controversial trespass program
“Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, who heads a civil rights unit at Bronx Defenders, said she won’t celebrate “unless and until Bronx residents living in private buildings are free from police harassment.” “The NYPD has a history of dismantling a program only to redeploy the same practice in new packaging,” she said. “It will be important to…
The City: NYPD Response to June Bronx Protest Violated Human Rights Law, Watchdog Charges
“We represent dozens of protesters from that night on claims against the NYPD,” said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, managing director of impact litigation at the Bronx Defenders. “Our clients were all trapped before the curfew,” Borchetta said. “They were trapped to such a degree that people reported that they couldn’t breathe. Then police descended on a…
Queens Gazette: Bail Reform In New York, Part II
“Bronx Defenders Chief of Staff Caines said he was working on decarceration for some time before bail reform. He said the early releases, in November and December, were frequent, favoring those who he said shouldn’t have been incarcerated anyway. In January, releases from Rikers made some fear an impending crime wave, but it didn’t happen,…
Human Rights Watch: “Kettling” Protesters in the Bronx
“Human Rights Watch analyzed 155 videos that were recorded during the protest, some of which were posted on social media and others that were shared directly with Human Rights Watch. We also reviewed social media posts related to the protest and police scanner recordings from the 40th and 41st precincts on the evening of June…
Blavity: Judge Orders Release Of 26-Year-Old Gambian Immigrant Detained At ICE Facility For 3 Years
“A federal judge ordered ICE officials at a jail in New Jersey on Monday to release Ousman Darboe, a 26-year-old undocumented immigrant from Gambia who has been detained for more than three years, according to his lawyers at The Bronx Defenders. Darboe, a Black Muslim, was pardoned by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in February but has…
WNYC: Held By ICE Longer Than Any New Yorker, Bronx Man Is Finally Freed
“Ousman Darboe arrived from Gambia at age 6. He was locked up by ICE more than three years ago — an extraordinary length of time even more notable because in February, Gov. Andrew Cuomo pardoned him for the alleged crime that landed him in detention: robbing gold chains, which he said he didn’t do. Sophia Gurulé,…
City Limits: Opinion: Disinvestment Deepens the Impact of COVID-19 and Racism in the Bronx
“The twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice that have ripped through this country the past six month have exposed and exacerbated long-standing inequities in our collective health, prosperity, and safety. Thousands of low-income people of color have died, millions of low-wage workers are out of a job, and Black people are experiencing violence, trauma,…
The Wall Street Journal: Algorithm Helps New York Decide Who Goes Free Before Trial
“You’re codifying these structural inequalities into the tool,” said Scott Levy, chief policy counsel at the Bronx Defenders, a public-defender organization. “That is particularly pernicious because you are doing it under the guise of science.” Read the full article here
Gotham Gazette: Time to Say Goodbye to NYPD Buy and Busts
“The protests following George Floyd’s murder have amplified two different, yet intertwined demands: to hold police officers accountable and to defund the police. In New York City, the NYPD’s continued use of predatory “buy and bust” operations, which target poor people of color and are conducted by detectives with long misconduct histories, exemplifies the imperative…
Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Brooklyn Defenders and others want transparent COVID protocols for NYC jails
“A group of legal service providers including Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) came together to write a letter demanding that certain city agencies provide clear and transparent COVID-19 protocols for local jails. The groups, which also include the Legal Aid Society, the Bronx Defenders, New York County Defenders, Queens Defenders and Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem…
The City: Former Inmates Threatened with Early Checkout from Taxpayer-Funded Hotel Rooms
“The program has improved the chances of people getting released from city jails and state prisons, said Julia Solomons, senior policy social workers for the Bronx Defenders. Prosecutors, judges and prison officials are more likely to agree to let people out when they know there’s a hotel bed available as opposed to a packed shelter, Solomons…
ACLU: For Black Immigrants, Police and ICE Are Two Sides of the Same Coin
“We are setting up Black communities, and the Black immigrants who live in those communities like in the Bronx, to fail,” said Sophia Gurulé, Darboe’s attorney and a policy counsel at Bronx Defenders. “He was basically plagued by constant policing and criminalization since he was a teenager.” Now, Darboe faces the prospect of deportation back…
Sports Illustrated: New York Giants Band Together in Show of Solidarity Before Blue-White Scrimmage
“The Giants revealed this week that earlier this off-season, they split into nine smaller groups with each group collaborating with local community organizations such as the United Way of NYC, Far Rockaway Colts (NYPD), New York City Police Foundation, RISE, Bronx Defenders, Eva’s Village, East Orange Mayor’s Office, My Sisters’ Place, and Covenant House to…
Report Door: Giants, Lorenzo Carter tackle racial divide in United States
“The Giants said the purpose of their community-outreach campaign — which breaks the team into nine groups involving nine local organizations — is “to unify and reinforce how togetherness will be collective and unwavering among Giants fans, players, coaches and the front office this season.” The nine partner organizations will be United Way of NYC,…
Pratt Center: How Pratt Center’s Made In NYC Is Helping Local Businesses Survive COVID-19
“When the anti-racism protests grew across the five boroughs, MINYC coordinated the donation of 1,626 units of masks, face shields, and hand sanitizer to those practicing their civil right to peacefully and safely assemble. Partnering with community-based groups like Equality 4 Flatbush and the Bronx Defenders, they worked to direct this PPE to communities most impacted by the…
Gothamist: Analyzing 323,911 Newly-Released Records Of NYPD Misconduct
“Michael Thomas, a staff attorney in the criminal defense practice for The Bronx Defenders, called the release “huge,” and predicted it would lead to major changes in how his cases will be tried, compared to the era in which 50-A shielded many records from discovery. “A lot of our cases that end up going to…
Times Herald-Record: Athletes aren’t playing games when it comes to social injustice
“We’re sick of talking about it,” McDougald added. “We’re sick of sharing our emotions about it. Like, we’re hurting. And then to have that type of deep conversation and then to have to snap right into football mode, it’s just crazy. But it’s the life we’re living, it’s the world we’re living in. It’s what’s…
New York Daily News: Joe Judge’s Giants decide to keep practicing and let off-field actions speak on social justice front
“What Judge and the Giants have done is split their players and coaches into nine teams. Each team is paired with an organization in New York or New Jersey connected to an initiative or issue the players pinpointed as a priority. And the team dedicates time on Mondays and Wednesdays to these initiatives every week….
Documented: Manhattan Judge Says ICE Hasn’t Slowed Down Arrests Enough
“A Manhattan federal judge said Tuesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not complying well with his March injunction that ordered the agency to arrest fewer immigrants. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein had asked ICE to provide reports about its arrest activities in the New York City area after his injunction, and said since March…
Business West: WNEU’s Ariel Clemmer Honored With ‘Excellence In The Law’ Award
“After graduation, Clemmer started her career as a public defender at the Bronx Defenders, representing low-income clients charged with misdemeanor and felony crimes. She then worked for the firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP, defending clients against security class actions and other complex financial matters, while continuing to develop her pro bono practice litigating matrimonial,…
Giants: Giants announce #TogetherBlue campaign
“Over the last several months, our players and coaches have spent countless hours meeting with our community partners and identifying ways we can work together to inspire and create change,” said Giants Vice President of Community and Corporate Relations Allison Stangeby. “This player driven initiative will continue throughout the season and will be an impactful…
Law360: ICE Not In ‘Good Compliance’ With Injunction, NY Judge Says
“Law360, New York (August 25, 2020, 5:06 PM EDT) — A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide more information about how decisions are made on detaining people for alleged civil immigration offenses, after immigrant…” Read the full article here
News12 The Bronx: ‘Black Families Matter’ march speaks out against Child Protective Services
“The march was organized in partnership with the Bronx Defenders, a group which represents many families going through similar experiences. “It’s shown in data, it’s documented that folks across races use drugs at the same amount of rate,” says Bronx Defenders Attorney, Miriam Mack. “Yet we know that it’s Black and brown folks in hospitals…
Frank News: Systems Built on Good Intentions are the Most Dangerous: Part 2
“This interview with Emma Ketteringham, managing director of the family defense practice at the Bronx Defenders, was conducted and condensed by franknews. Part one of this conversation on the child welfare system can be found here. Emma | If you look at all of the systems that do harm, whether it’s to poor communities or Black and brown communities, they are…