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…
The Bronx Defenders condemns the conditions adolescents at Rikers Island are being held in and the treatment they are subjected to as outlined in the August 4, 2014 report by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Barara. For too long, the city of New York has neglected adolescents involved in the…
“There is no excuse for an illegal chokehold by the NYPD. We need policing FOR our communities, not against them.” -Donna Lieberman, Executive Director, New York Civil Liberties Union Earlier today, The Bronx Defenders rallied together with community allies at a press conference hosted by Communities United for Police Reform at City Hall to demand accountability for…
A few years ago, a young black man named DeMarcus Sanders got pulled over in Waterloo, Iowa, because a cop thought he was playing music too loud. DeMarcus didn’t expect his car to be searched, or to get arrested when the officer discovered a small amount of marijuana. He also didn’t expect to spend 30…
An investigation by NBC 4 New York’s partners at WNYC shows that it’s not uncommon for low-level arrests to spiral dangerously out of control – in some cases leaving people accused of minor offenses seriously hurt. Chris Glorioso reports. The Bronx Defenders Robin Steinberg comments on disproportionate use of force in low-level arrests in New York City. To…
WNYC’s Robert Lewis investigates the NYPD’s embrace of the “broken windows” theory in the wake of the recent death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner. The Bronx Defenders Executive Director Robin Steinberg is interviewed to shed light on these issues. Many across New York are still struggling to understand how Eric Garner — the Staten Island…
Taking a step back from the daily fight in and outside of the courtroom for our clients and their families, Bronx Defenders staff and summer interns hit the court this week to test their skills on the court at our annual Interns vs. Staff basketball game. Regarding the winner…the jury is still out.
Read Bronx Defenders Summer Legal Intern Shaun Ossei-Owusu’s powerful commentary on police brutality in New York City, responding to the recent death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner at the hands of the NYPD. Another unarmed man dies after cops take it too far. Inside the chokehold’s sordid, deadly history. The streets, social media, and the…
“We need to hold the police department as a whole accountable for the culture that allows for police officers to regularly profile people of color, target them, [and] use physical force against them.” The Bronx Defenders Criminal Defense Attorney and Director of Strategic Initiatives Kumar Rao appeared on HuffPost Live last night, hosted by Ricky…
Read The Bronx Defenders’ Skylar Albertson’s “Letter to Editor” published in The New York Times in response to their recent article on mental illness among inmates at Rikers Island: To the Editor: “Where Mental Illness Meets Brutality in Jail” (front page, July 14) paints a horrifying but accurate picture of the abuse that mentally ill…
The Center for Holistic Defense at The Bronx Defenders The 2014 Holistic Defense for Public Defender Offices Technical Assistance Project Request For Proposals The Center for Holistic Defense, a project of The Bronx Defenders, is pleased to announce the release of its fifth annual Technical Assistance Project Request For Proposals seeking applications from public defender…
The difference between being saddled with a criminal record and keeping one’s profile clean often comes down to a person’s ability to come up with bail money, a new report from The Bronx Freedom Fund shows. The fund, launched in 2007 and reopened in October 2013, four years after a judge ordered it to cease…
Bronx News 12 featured The Bronx Defenders 2014 Community Block Party. To see the article click here.
The Bronx Defenders 2014 Community Block Party was listed among TimeOut Magazine’s “26 awesome things happening in New York” in the week of July 7, 2014. TimeOut wrote: The Bronx Defenders Community Block Party; E 160th St The Bronx Defenders are a group of real-life superheroes. They don’t need a mask and a cape, though,…
“We need to intervene more deeply, involve ourselves more broadly, and understand the lives of our clients more fully. We need to fight on behalf of individuals but we need to also mobilize communities to be warriors in the broader struggle of social and racial justice.” Bronx Defenders Executive Director Robin Steinberg gave an inspiring keynote speech…
June 26, 2014 The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York State NYS State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 RE: Sign S7883/A10139 to Add 25 More Family Court Judges Dear Governor Cuomo: The Bronx Defenders is a proud member of the New York State Coalition for More Family Court Judges. We urge you to…
For June’s National Reunification Month, organizations around the country celebrated the perseverance and resilience of parents reunifying with children from foster care and of the professionals who support them. On June 13, the family defense organization The Bronx Defenders hosted a reunification celebration, with food, face painting, performances, and families coming together to celebrate the…
Building upon the pilot project implemented by The Bronx Defenders, together with Brooklyn Defender Services, over the past year, The New York City Council announces approval for renewed funding to provide legal representation to undocumented immigrants in New York City at Varick Street in Manhattan as well as in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J. A long-sought…
Request for Proposals Civil Forfeiture Video Project Submission Date: July 2, 2014 Organization Overview The Bronx Defenders is a community-based, multi-service legal organization dedicated to addressing the underlying problems of poverty in the Bronx by providing innovative, holistic, and client-centered criminal defense, family defense, civil legal services, and social services to indigent Bronx residents. Our…
SAVE THE DATE The Bronx Defenders invites you to the 2014 SUMMER BENEFIT The South Cabana at The Maritime Hotel Tuesday, July 15th | 7:00 pm | 88 Ninth Avenue, New York City (entrance is at the corner of 16th Street & Ninth Avenue) Please join us on this summer evening to enjoy cocktails and…
Last week we hosted our annual Celebration of Families night to honor our clients who have been reunited with their children after arduous battles in Bronx Family Court. The evening provided our clients and their families an opportunity to share their stories, connect with one another, and take a moment to celebrate their perseverance after a difficult and…
On Thursday, June 12th, 2014, The Bronx Defenders’ Skylar Albertson delivered testimony at the Joint Meeting of the Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services and the Committee on Mental Health, Development Disability, Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Disability Services Solitary Confinement Hearing. Since January, Albertson and Social Work Intern Leah Baez have conducted 23 interviews with…
The Bronx Defenders joined Council Member Mark Levine and the Coalition for Justice in Housing Court on the steps of City Hall on Thursday, June 11th, to rally for the “Right to Counsel” in Housing Court. A total of 246,864 New Yorkers were served with eviction papers in 2013. Nearly 99% of these tenants were…
Yesterday afternoon The Bronx Defenders welcomed a group of 20 middle schoolers from the LAUNCH Expeditionary Learning Charter School in Brooklyn to our Justice Campus to read aloud closing arguments they had prepared and to receive feedback from a panel of Bronx Defenders attorneys and summer interns. The students’ field trip was inspired by their reading of Walter…
Numbers don’t lie: More than 70% of immigrants, documented or not, who face deportation proceedings in New York City do not have legal representation, an unfair situation which practically guarantees their removal. “Without a lawyer, immigrants’ opportunity to win their deportation cases is about 3%,” said Angela Fernández, the executive director of the Northern Manhattan…