Public defenders push more DAs to ease up on turnstile jumpers

“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.

The Bronx Defenders joined The Legal Aid Society, Queens Law Associates, the Community Service Society of New York, VOCAL-NY, and Riders Alliance to call on the Bronx and Queens district attorneys to cease prosecuting New Yorkers arrested for fare evasion. Read the story in the NY Daily News.