“The Bronx Defenders won a partial victory in its suit challenging notoriously long delays for misdemeanor trials in the Bronx. But it will have to proceed with new plaintiffs. The public defender organization filed its federal lawsuit in the spring, claiming the delays violate the U.S. Constitution’s right to a speedy trial…” Listen to the…
Elizabeth earned her Masters in Social Work from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at the Washington University in St. Louis. While at the Brown School, she established the first social work internship at the Missouri State Public Defender St. Louis City office. Additionally, as an intern, she created the first employment-readiness program…
New York City – In response to the fatal police shooting of a 66-year-old Bronx resident last night, The Bronx Defenders issued the following statement: “Last night’s police killing of Deborah Danner, a 66-year-old woman from the South Bronx, is the latest, tragic reminder that police officers are simply ill equipped to deescalate encounters with people…
New York – The Bronx Defenders mourns the death of Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, who passed away last night after a battle with cancer. “We extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Thompson’s family, friends, and staff,” said Robin Steinberg, Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders. “A staunch advocate for criminal justice reform, Ken Thompson…
“An hour ride on most NYC subway lines should be enough to see how New York City, for all its diversity, is an economically and racially segregated city. A few stops along that same ride can also illustrate how policing in communities varies depending on the neighborhood. Take the D train from 59th-Columbus Circle to…
“While it’s hard enough for the working poor to find qualified representation, doing so as an immigrant in detention is almost impossible. Just 37 percent of people facing deportation have an attorney with them. For people in immigration detention, that number falls to 14 percent, according to a study published in the University of Pennsylvania…
Adam Shoop, Legal Director of the Civil Action Practice, presented testimony at the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety for a hearing regarding Int. 1000-2015, a local law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the police department to report seized property data on an…
“Whether through litigation or legislation, New Yorkers must have access to full information regarding these practices. It’s time for the NYPD to open its books.” Adam Shoop, attorney in the Civil Action Practice at The Bronx Defenders, writes for amNew York on the need for transparency regarding NYPD property seizure practices. Read his op-ed here. For more…
“A judge compared state lawyers’ arguments in a case on court delays to the pre-Civil Rights Era South, suggesting Wednesday their position against federal intervention might have been used by segregationists. The Bronx Defenders alleged in a May lawsuit that those in the borough facing misdemeanor charges suffer from “structural and systematic” delays in their…
WNYC features an incredible victory from our Prostitution Conviction Vacatur Project, a project we launched in 2013 with the aim of identifying all our clients who have criminal convictions as a result of having been a victim of sex trafficking and working with them to vacate the conviction. Listen to the story here.
Every year in New York City, thousands of people who are victims of sex trafficking are arrested, charged, and ultimately convicted of prostitution-related offenses. Due to New York City’s zero-tolerance policing, many of these people are arrested multiple times and face repeated prosecutions. Convictions for prostitution carry an enormous stigma and make it extremely difficult…
“When officers categorize wallets or cellphones as evidence, getting them back can be nearly impossible—even if the owner isn’t charged with a crime…” Great piece in The Atlantic on the NYPD’s use of civil forfeiture and The Bronx Defenders’ legal challenges to this and other property seizure practices by police. Read the article here. To…
“Just how common, and exactly how much money the NYPD is currently taking from low-income New Yorkers, is the basis of a lawsuit filed last week against the NYPD by the Bronx Defenders…” Read the article here. For more on the lawsuit, see our case page.
As states across the country struggle to sufficiently defend the poor, why is our public-defender system in turmoil and can anything be done to reform it? Robin Steinberg, executive director of The Bronx Defenders, joins WNYC’s The Takeaway to discuss. Listen to the story here.
The NYPD regularly seizes cash, cellphones, cars, and other property during arrests. Property that is not contraband should be returned to its rightful owner when the case is dismissed or terminated unless the district attorney’s office can establish that the valuables are still needed as evidence for an appeal or another proceeding. In practice, something…
“The NYPD is illegally refusing to disclose information on civil forfeiture, according to a lawsuit to be filed Thursday. The Bronx Defenders plan to file a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit that says the NYPD won’t provide requested information on policies and procedures involving cash and property seized during arrests — which could total “tens of…
Contact: media@bronxdefenders.org August 4, 2016, New York – Today, The Bronx Defenders filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the New York Police Department, arguing the department has violated New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) by refusing to provide relevant information pertaining to its policies and procedures…
On May 30, 2018, the court approved a settlement secured with the NYPD requiring it to turn over detailed information — for the first time — about the millions of dollars of property it seizes during arrests. The settlement resulted from a New York State Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) lawsuit filed by The Bronx…
“The Bronx District Attorney’s office has agreed to several procedures that could speed up the return of property confiscated during criminal investigations, according to new court documents… The proposed changes were spurred by a federal lawsuit filed in January by The Bronx Defenders.” Read the article here. For more on the lawsuit, see our case page.
Contact: media@bronxdefenders.org July 26, 2016, New York – The City of New York and The Bronx Defenders have requested a six-month stay of the federal class action lawsuit Encarnacion v. City of New York after the Bronx District Attorney’s Office agreed to implement a series of reforms to ensure the NYPD promptly releases personal property…
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The essence of any police body-worn camera program should be the need for increased police accountability. Economically marginalized communities, particularly communities of color, have long been over-policed, subjecting their residents to degrees of state oversight and intervention that would never be tolerated in suburban communities. Examples of this have included so-called “broken windows policing,” recently discredited…
The New York Police Department (NYPD) is planning a large body-worn camera (BWC) experiment involving 1,000 cameras at precincts all over the City, and is seeking public input to develop the policies that will guide officers using the cameras. This pilot program emerged in part from the class action lawsuits in which the court found the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk…
Filed on March 28, 2012, this federal class action lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Operation Clean Halls, a part of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program that allows police officers to patrol thousands of private apartments buildings across New York City. As far back as the early 1990s, Operation Clean Halls has enabled police officers to patrol…