City Limits: State Senator: Citywide Bail Fund Would Help, Not Hinder, Courts
A recent Daily News editorial titled “City Council: Do not pass go on bad-idea bail fund” erroneously asserted that the city-wide bail fund being considered by the City Council was unnecessary, a waste of taxpayer dollars, and would undermine the authority of judges. With all due respect to The Daily News, I could not disagree…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: ArchCity Defenders saw problems with municipal courts before Ferguson turmoil
Two years before Ferguson attracted national attention for racial tension and questionable court practices, a group of volunteer lawyers calling itself the ArchCity Defenders was already concluding that something was off about the city. Today the group is at the forefront of a legal movement to overhaul municipal courts regionally — one that has already…
Kate Rubin and Scott Levy testified before City Council on community policing
Bronx Defenders Managing Director of the Civil Action Practice Kate Rubin, together with Fundamental Fairness Project Director Scott Levy, submitted written comments on behalf of The Bronx Defenders to New York City Council’s Committee on Public Safety on March 3, 2015, discussing key issues to consider in community policing. The testimony describes two critical lenses through which…
Capital New York: Officials: Expand legal program for immigrants
Members of the state Assembly and advocates want to expand a public defender program for immigrant New Yorkers who are facing deportation. The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) aims to decrease the rate of deportations of New Yorkers who, for the most part, have been living lawful, productive lives despite their unresolved legal…
Gotham Gazette: Bronx Program Serves as Inspiration for Mark-Viverito’s City-Wide Bail Fund Proposal
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito used her first State of the City address to advocate major reforms to the city’s criminal justice system designed to keep low-level offenders out of jail. Along with a call to issue more tickets rather than arrest people for misdemeanors, in her speech earlier this month the speaker proposed a city-wide…
Keston Jones to speak on “The State of the Black Family” panel at Penn State Law
Bronx Defenders Parent Advocate and Focus on Fathers Project Coordinator Keston Jones will be joining a panel discussion at Penn State Law, organized by the Black Law Students Association, on Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Penn State Law is hosting this program as part of Black History Month to address how Black families are treated throughout the…
Mark Loudon-Brown to lead webinar on DNA expert cross examination
Bronx Defenders Criminal Defense Attorney and Forensic Practice Supervisor Mark Loudon-Brown will be leading a National Association for Public Defense (NAPD) webinar on Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 1:00 pm EST. The webinar, entitled “Cross Examining the DNA Analyst: Themes, Chapters, and Examples” will build on the elements of DNA evidence that were discussed in the previous webinar led…
Keeping families together: Spotlight on BxD’s “Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies” project
Recognizing the pain and trauma of family separation, The Bronx Defenders advocates tirelessly in Bronx Family Court to ensure that our clients are given fair access to justice and that their children are not removed merely because their families are over-policed and prosecuted for being poor. Responding to this reality, we launched our Healthy Mothers,…
WBAI’s On the Count: Immigration and Detention Post-Obama Executive Order
The Bronx Defenders Immigration Attorney Conor Gleason joined Abraham Paolos of Families for Freedom to discuss the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) and the impact on families of deportations post-Executive Action Orders on WBAI’s “On the Count” with guest host Khalil Cumberbatch last Saturday, January 10, 2015. Listen to the segment here:
HuffPost Live: Report Highlights Marijuana Enforcement’s Costs
Bronx Defenders Fundamental Fairness Project Director Scott Levy appeared on HuffPost Live, hosted by Josh Zepps, earlier today together with Alberto Willmore, a New York teacher who lost his position after a marijuana arrest, to discuss the costs of marijuana arrests in New York City and The Bronx Defenders’ new report “The Hidden Tax: Economic Costs…
The Bronx Defenders releases its report “The Hidden Tax: Economic Costs of Marijuana Enforcement in the Bronx and New York City”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 17, 2014 Contact: Scott Levy, The Bronx Defenders, 718-838-7833, ScottL@bronxdefenders.org The Hidden Tax: Economic Costs of Marijuana Enforcement in the Bronx and New York City New York – The Bronx Defenders released The Hidden Tax: Economic Costs of Marijuana Enforcement in New York, a report by The Bronx Defenders Fundamental Fairness…
The Bronx Freedom Fund releases its first Annual Report
The Bronx Freedom Fund released its first annual report this week, showing the Fund’s impact since opening in October 2013. As the first licensed charitable bail organization in New York State, the Bronx Freedom Fund helps eligible clients of The Bronx Defenders post bail in misdemeanor cases where they and their families are unable to afford…
Skylar Albertson spoke before NYC Board of Correction on solitary confinement concerns
On November 18th, Skylar Albertson spoke at a NYC Board of Correction (BOC) meeting concerning the use of solitary confinement and the Department of Correction’s (DOC) proposal to create Enhanced Supervision Housing (ESH) units at Rikers Island. The BOC, an independent oversight agency responsible for setting guidelines for the DOC, has been engaged in a…
New York Post: Mayor pushes mail-in policy for marijuana fines
Mayor de Blasio wants to include ethnic and racial data on the NYPD’s new marijuana summonses — and allow people to pay fines by mail. The convenience would be similar to a system already in place for drivers who can get rid of parking tickets with a check and a stamp. “That’s a choice that…
BxD’s New York Immigrant Family Unity Project Honored at the Families for Freedom 12th Annual Fundraiser
The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) was honored last Friday, November 14, 2014 by Families For Freedom at their 12th Annual Fundraiser. NYIFUP, which is implemented by The Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, and the Legal Aid Society, is the first institutionally-provided public defender program in the country for immigrants facing deportation. NYIFUP…
Brooklyn Independent Media: Pot Arrest Policy
“The much larger issue is racial disparity in arrests: Citywide 86% of the people being arrested [for marijuana possession] are black and latino.” – Scott Levy, The Bronx Defenders The Bronx Defenders Fundamental Fairness Project Director Scott Levy, together with Gabriel Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance and Shapriece Townsend of Vocal NY discuss…
The Bronx Defenders’ Scott Levy on Hot 97’s Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers Discussing the NYPD’s New Marijuana Policy
Scott Levy, Project Director of The Fundamental Fairness Project at The Bronx Defenders, took part in a dynamic conversation surrounding the NYPD’s new marijuana policy on “Hot 97 Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers.” The radio program brought together drug policy experts, legal experts, law enforcement officials, and individuals with previous criminal justice involvement to discuss and debate…
NY1 Noticias: La Policía de Bill de Blasio y las minorías de Nueva York
La posesión de pequeñas cantidades de marihuana ya no desembocará en arresto, sino en multa o citación judicial. El concejal de Brooklyn y Queens Antonio Reynoso, Priscilla González, de Comunidades Unidas por una Reforma Policial y Walter Rodríguez, de Bronx Defenders, analizan las políticas policiales del alcalde Bill de Blasio y las relaciones entre la…
New York Daily News: Robin’s Steinberg’s Op-Ed – The wrong way to reform NYC’s pot policing policy
Read our Executive Director Robin Steinberg’s op-ed on New York City’s new marijuana enforcement policy in New York Daily News: New York City cannot solve the problem of discriminatory and overly-harsh marijuana policing by cramming more people into the overburdened summons court system. This week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new policy aimed at…
New York Times: Shift on Marijuana Policy Was a Long Time Coming, and Too Late for One Man
Anthony Welfare closely followed this week’s news that New York City no longer will bring criminal charges against people who are seen with small amounts of marijuana, as long as they are not smoking it in public. “I find that funny,” Mr. Welfare, 28, said. But not hah-hah funny. Not LOL funny. After seven years…
Epoch Times: Brooklyn Charity Fund Seeks to Help People Too Poor to Afford Bail
NEW YORK—Public defender Josh Saunders has seen over and over again how his clients go to jail and suffer major life-altering consequences, when just $500 for bail would have prevented it. Because they could not afford to post bail, clients who hold jobs as fast-food workers, security guards, and home health aides have gotten fired…
The Bronx Defenders announces significant victory in our lawsuit challenging “Stop and Frisk” program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Molly Kovel, The Bronx Defenders, 718-508-3421 or MollyK@bronxdefenders.org The Bronx Defenders is pleased to announce that the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has cleared the way for immediate implementation of crucial reforms of the New York Police Department’s “Stop and Frisk” program as ordered by Judge Shira…
BxD Holistic Defense Partner ArchCity Defenders Received National Attention for White Paper on St. Louis County Municipal Courts
The ArchCity Defenders, a holistic legal services office in St. Louis, released a white paper earlier this year detailing the injustices of the St. Louis County Municipal Courts. The report has received extensive coverage in both local and national media organizations, including The New York Times, National Public Radio, The Huffington Post, FiveThirtyEight, and the…
Huffington Post: Prisoners’ Rights Advocates React To Retirement Of Rikers Official Who Oversaw Violent Facility
NEW YORK — Prisoners’ rights advocates and lawmakers on Tuesday welcomed the news that the top uniformed official at New York City’s Department of Correction, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to rampant violence in a Rikers Island juvenile detention facility, is stepping down. Chief of Department William Clemons, who climbed to…
Holistic Defense highlighted in recent report commissioned by Canada’s Department of Justice
The Bronx Defenders’ Holistic Defense model was recently highlighted in an extensive report commissioned by the Department of Justice Canada. The report, Maximizing the Federal Investment in Criminal Legal Aid, was prepared by Prairie Research Associates and documents innovations, best practices, and efficiencies in criminal legal aid in Canada and abroad. This report, one of…