City & State NY – Groups Target Koo and Rivera On Community Safety Act
In advance of an expected City Council vote on the proposed Community Safety Act next week, constituents and community groups will be holding actions in the districts of Council Members Peter Koo and Joel Rivera, calling on them to support the bills to ban racial profiling and establish an Inspector General for the New York…
New York Daily News: Bronx groups urge Councilman Joel Rivera to back legislation calling for an end to discriminatory profiling
Bronx groups urge Councilman Joel Rivera to back legislation calling for an end to discriminatory profiling Rivera has not taken a stance on bills intended to curb profiling during stop-and-frisks and establish an Inspector General for the NYPD Bronx community groups are calling on the City Council Majority Leader to back a pair of bills…
Char-Koosta News: Presentation explores affects of stress with law enforcement, arrests
PABLO — In 2011 the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Defense office received an award from the Center for Holistic Defense sponsored by the Bronx Public Defenders office in New York for technical assistance that uses a holistic approach that allows the tribal defense team to be client-centered with limited financial resources. The award is…
Announcing the new Bronx Defenders website
The Bronx Defenders is pleased to announce the launch of our new website! We hope you can take the time to explore our site and support the work that we do for and alongside our clients, their families and their communities. Key highlights from this new site include: How We Work – an interactive visual…
Alex Sierck spoke on a webinar panel “Defender Initiatives in Indian Country”
On June 11, 2013, Alex Sierck, Project Director of the Center for Holistic Defense, spoke on a webinar panel entitled “Defender Initiatives in Indian Country.” The panel discussed how recent legislation has affected tribal courts and the tribal defender community and examined how two tribal defender initiatives are enhancing the provision of justice and improving…
The Bronx Defenders Denounced Proposed Bail Bill in New York State
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 11, 2013 Contact: Justine Olderman, The Bronx Defenders, (917) 836-4366 The Bronx Defenders Denounced Proposed Bail Bill in New York State The Bronx Defenders called for the New York Legislature to abandon Proposed Bill S. 4483 (Nozzolio) / A. 6799 (Lentol), which does not contain constitutional safeguards or provide adequate guidance in setting…
Gotham Schools: Community members carve out a role in school guards’ training
When Lynn Sanchez, a Bronx parent activist, challenged police and education officials to address persistent school climate problems during a public forum on school safety last year, she did not think they would say yes. And yet just months later, Sanchez was sitting with safety agents during one of their training sessions — which, for…
The Take Away: Searching for Justice in the South Bronx
As the executive director of the Bronx Defenders, a public defense and legal services organization, Robin Steinberg has spent her career demanding justice for the residents of the poorest Congressional district in the nation. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, the landmark Supreme Court case that requires states to provide attorneys…
Federal Suit Claims Police Manufacture Misdemeanors
Today, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLC and The Bronx Defenders filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court on behalf of five Bronx residents, charging the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) with targeting Black and Latino communities for marijuana arrests and “manufacturing” misdemeanor crimes against residents in order to meet departmental quotas. All…
ABA Journal: Stop-and-frisk project reaches ‘appalling’ conclusion: No right to misdemeanor trial in Bronx, NY
A special Bronx Defenders project—in which a Wall Street law firm was lined up to help those accused of misdemeanors after arrests resulting from questionable stop-and-frisk tactics by police—has reached a grim conclusion. Contrary to what the U.S. Constitution and New York state law requires, there is effectively no right to trial or meaningful court…
ThinkProgress: How Bronx Prosecutors Avert Any Challenge To Marijuana Stop-And-Frisk Arrests
In New York City, marijuana is the most common reason for arrest, even though only possession of marijuana in public view is a crime. A dramatic spike in these arrests has accompanied the rise of the New York Police Department’s controversial stop and frisk tactic, and an equally controversial reported tactic of considering the marijuana…
No Day in Court – a New Report by The Bronx Defenders
The report, No Day in Court, finds that manufactured marijuana arrests, prosecutorial delay, and an overwhelmed court system all conspire against justice in the Bronx. New York – Today, The Bronx Defenders released a report that shows that people who are unconstitutionally arrested for marijuana possession every year are consistently denied meaningful access to justice in…
New York Times: Federal Suit Claims Police Distort Marijuana Searches to Create Misdemeanors
One man was walking home with groceries. Another was on a break from his job at a meat market. A third was walking down the street listening to headphones. That is when the men say police officers confronted them, sometimes violently, searched their clothing and discovered small amounts of marijuana, according to a federal civil…
New York Times: Waiting and Waiting…for Justice
LATE in the summer of 2011, police officers in New York City arrested a full-time college student named Luis in the lobby of his apartment building in the Bronx and charged him with two misdemeanor offenses, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest. Luis, though, wasn’t guilty of either — a fact supported by a video…
New York Times: In Misdemeanor Cases, Long Waits for Elusive Trials
Francisco Zapata keeps a copy of the Constitution on his cellphone. So when the police stopped, frisked and charged him with misdemeanor marijuana possession, he wanted what that cellphone document promised. “I was under the assumption,” he said, “that if I kept going back to court, eventually I would get my day in court.” But…
Huffington Post’s The Blog: South Bronx Continues to Organize Against ‘Stop & Frisk’
Julio Pabon, Candidate for City Council South Bronx, NY This last Thursday, April 18, 2013, I attended a Bronx Town Hall Meeting on Community Safety & NYPD Accountability. The event was held at the Vacamas Glow Classic Center located at 286 East 156th St., located in the heart of the Melrose projects in the South…
South Bronx Residents, Elected Officials Demand End to Stop-and-Frisk Abuses and Discriminatory Policing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 18, 2013 Contact: Joanna Bernstein, The Bronx Defenders, 215-603-3113 or joannab@bronxdefenders.org South Bronx Residents, Elected Officials Demand End to Stop-and-Frisk Abuses and Discriminatory Policing Senator Gustavo Rivera, City Council members Melissa Mark-Viverito and Annabel Palma, and hundreds of community members call for reforms Bronx, NY – At a Bronx town hall…
South Bronx Podcast Series: Hospitalized After a Stop-and-Frisk
David Berrios becomes an activist after a violent encounter with the police lands him in the hospital. Join David at our Bronx Town Hall on April 18th to change the NYPD: on.fb.me/YfcGnO Produced by Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein Music: Clips from Tutto Finito Jazz “Sol Nocturno 1”
South Bronx Podcast Series: A Sidewalk Strip Search
The NYPD stopped, searched, and humiliated Angel Aviles and his wife last summer — for no reason. In this episode, Angel tells his story. He now advocates for police reform with the Bronx Defenders Organizing Project (www.bronxdefenders.org). Recording, editing, and production by Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein. Music by Brotmond, Cydonia Pianoversion.
Robin Steinberg spoke at “Gideon’s 50th Anniversary Symposium” at American University
On March 18th, 2013, Robin Steinberg spoke about the Bronx Freedom Fund at Gideon’s 50th Anniversary Symposium at American University, Washington College of Law. Her remarks were part of a panel entitled “Gideon, Strickland, and the Right to Effective Representation.” Click here for more information
HuffPost Live: Christian Lassiter talking about the shooting of Kimani Gray
This morning, our very own Christian Lassiter appeared live on HuffPost Live to talk about the Kimani Gray killing by the NYPD in Brooklyn last weekend. As you can see, Christian did a fabulous job in this very important and critical conversation about the NYPD’s campaign to target young Black and Latino men in low…
South Bronx Podcast Series: Levele Pointer, “I felt totally violated”
Levele Pointer, South Bronx resident, member of the Bronx Defenders Organizing Project and a NYHRE peer educator, shares his stories of getting stopped and frisked in New York City. This is the first in a series of South Bronx stories about the harmful impact on individuals and communities of discriminatory police practices. Recording, editing, and…
The Guardian: America’s bail system: one law for the rich, another for poor
If you’ve ever been arrested for a misdemeanor offense, like jumping a turnstile, smoking a joint, or protesting a cause in a way the authorities would rather you didn’t, then you’ll know that your best chance of avoiding jail has less to do with what you’ve done than if you can make bail. It’s no…
New York Law Journal: Lippman Lauds Bronx Group’s Nonprofit Approach to Bail Defenders
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman (See Profile) last week praised as a way “to take the profit motive out of bond making” the program of a Bronx legal assistance organization that used charitable contributions to keep its indigent clients out of jail as they awaited trial. Lippman’s endorsement came as The Bronx Defenders prepared to resume…
Justine Olderman spoke at the 8th Annual Harry Frank Guggenehim Symposium on Crime in America
On February 4, 2013, Justine Olderman spoke at the 8th Annual Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Her remarks on bail reform and Holistic Defense were part of the panel entitled “Rethinking Pre-Trial Detention” and are captured in part here.