BxD’s Sarah Deri Oshiro, managing director of the Immigration Practice speaks with Telemundo about the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project and our work to keep immigrant families together. To watch the interview, click here.
October 3, 2017, New York – Justine Olderman, managing director of The Bronx Defenders, spoke at a panel entitled “Police Officer Testimony: A Quarter of a Century After the Mollen Commission.” The event was hosted by the New York City Bar Association. Participants included the police department’s deputy commissioner for legal matters, Lawrence Byrne, Harvard…
The Robert P. Patterson Jr. Mentoring Program at The Bronx Defenders is designed to serve young people in the South Bronx. We have an inaugural class of 11 mentees, ages 14 through 18. Through our holistic mentoring model, we aim to expand each young person’s support system while strengthening their positive social network through educational…
September 20, 2017, New York, NY —Bronx Defenders founder Robin Steinberg will step down as executive director at the end of this year, leaving the public defense office that she founded two decades ago. The announcement was made at the organization’s 20th anniversary gala last night, which was attended by over 300 supporters and hosted…
Powerful op-ed by BxD’s Emma Ketteringham in the New York Times about poverty and the child-protection system: “For more than a decade, my colleagues at the Bronx Defenders and I have represented thousands of parents like Eline in child-protection proceedings. A majority of them have never abused a child. Yet child services charges them with “parental…
From its founding The Bronx Defenders has stood in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors in the Bronx, tailoring our model of public defense to their unique needs when they come into contact with the criminal and family courts’ justice system. Our Immigration Practice has three components: early intervention, benefits advocacy, and deportation defense. Early Intervention and Mitigation…
New York – In response to the Trump Administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, The Bronx Defenders issued the following statement: “The Bronx Defenders stands in solidarity with our immigrant clients, their families, and communities and condemns in the strongest terms the Trump administration’s decision to end DACA. This…
“All of our clients are indigent, many of them are trying to survive day by day. If they have five dollars on them, they need to choose between spending that five dollars on a meal, or a MetroCard, or food for their children, or diapers, or formula. So making a claim that just because people…
“What should you do if child-protective services comes to your house? You will hear a knock on the door, often late at night. You don’t have to open it, but if you don’t the caseworker outside may come back with the police. The caseworker will tell you you’re being investigated for abusing or neglecting your…
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark will host an amnesty event on Saturday, August 5th, 2017, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Eastchester Presbyterian Church in the Bronx to give New Yorkers an opportunity to clear up open warrants for low-level summonses without fear of arrest. Attorneys and advocates from The Bronx Defenders…
July 25, 2017, New York – In response to the introduction of S4841, a bill that would remove “turnstile jumping” from the NY penal code, The Bronx Defenders issued the following statement. The bill was introduced by Senator Jesse Hamilton at a press conference this morning. “Subway and bus transportation are basic needs to live…
“There has never been any vehicle for public accountability—the police department has vigorously resisted it. Finally, there will be some measure of accountability.”—Craig Levine, the policy director at The Bronx Defenders. Levine speaks with the Gothamist about the importance of the recent bill passed by the City Council that will require the NYPD to annually…
July 20, 2017, New York – In response to the passage of Intro 1000-B, a law requiring the NYPD to report on seized property data on an annual basis, The Bronx Defenders issued the following statement: “The passage of this bill marks an important victory for our clients and countless other New Yorkers disproportionately affected…
July 20, 2017, New York – In response to the passage of Intro 214b, a law providing free legal representation to low-income New Yorkers facing eviction, The Bronx Defenders issued the following statement: “After years of advocating for full funding to ensure this basic protection for low-income New Yorkers, we are thrilled to see that…
“When you have entire households in the South Bronx surviving on less than $10,000 a year, the real crime is to continue punishing people who can’t afford a MetroCard. Policies like this only compound poverty and structural inequalities in New York City.” —Alice Fontier, managing director of the criminal defense practice at The Bronx Defenders….
New Yorker writer Jonathan Blitzer visited BxD to speak with our client Christian Yarleque about his experience in immigration detention. Mr. Yarleque, a long-time New York resident with a green card, spent over a year and a half in ICE custody before being reunited with his wife and children. His story highlights the human cost…
“The court has rightly recognized that low-income people should not be held in immigration detention with no end in sight while their case is pending, simply because they cannot afford to pay an immigration bond. By ruling that ability to pay must be taken into consideration when determining a bond amount, the court is ensuring…
Last Friday, June 2, we hosted our annual Celebration of Families, welcoming 21 of our clients’ families to The Bronx Defenders’ Justice Campus for an evening of celebration. Every year we hold this intimate gathering to honor the families we have served through our Family Defense Practice and mark June as National Reunification Month. After…
WNYC reports on the recent compromise reached in Albany by the New York Senate Codes Committee regarding speedy trial reform. As Scott Levy, special counsel to the criminal defense practice at The Bronx Defenders, tells WNYC, the new bill “falls short of structural change” but is a “significant step” toward larger changes. We remain committed…
“As a former judge, I know firsthand the importance of having an attorney in court proceedings. Nonlawyers are rarely able to protect properly their own legal rights. Immigration proceedings are no less important or complicated than criminal ones. Yet immigrants who cannot afford an attorney are not provided one. New York City has sought to…
We are very excited to welcome our 2017 summer interns! The Bronx Defenders internship program gives students the opportunity to experience and learn client-centered, holistic advocacy through hands-on work with our interdisciplinary advocates. This summer BxD is hosting a total of 84 interns, including 61 law school students from 23 different schools who will undergo…
“New York’s court system is finally pushing back against the NYPD’s refusal to provide better accounting of its forfeiture programs.” Techdirt on the most recent development in our lawsuit challenging lack of transparency in NYPD property seizures. Read the article here. For more on the lawsuit, click here.
The Bronx Defenders is proud to congratulate Emma Ketteringham, managing director of our Family Defense Practice, for being selected to be a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School for the 2017-2018 academic year. Emma is one of a select few from across the country and around the world to be awarded this honor…
“Displeased by the New York City Police Department’s ‘troublesome’ litigation tactics, a state judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit seeking information on what happens to millions of ‘unclaimed’ dollars seized in civil forfeitures.” Courthouse News Service on the latest development in our lawsuit challenging lack of transparency in NYPD property seizures. Read the article here….
In this investigation, ProPublica demonstrates the benefits and importance of having access to free legal representation during deportation proceedings. As our client Romniel shared with the reporter, being picked up by ICE “was like a nightmare.” He continued, “It’s very important to have a lawyer to defend yourself, because I didn’t know anything about immigration…