The New Yorker: Annals of Law: Rights and Wrongs

A Judge Takes on Stop & Frisk.  Article by Jeffrey Toobin.

Excerpt:

“…Bradley took the ticket to the offices of the Bronx Defenders, who have pioneered
what they call “holistic defense,” a method based on recognizing that, for
criminal defendants like Bradley, deportation, eviction, or the loss of parental
rights may be more ruinous than conviction or jail. Bradley met with two lawyers—an employment specialist and a criminal-defense attorney. “Charles was freaking out,” Molly Kovel, the employment lawyer, said. “We had seen it before. Many of our clients are security guards or cabdrivers, and both are licensed by the government. For a lot of minor crimes, the bigger threat to their lives is losing their jobs, rather than getting convicted.” Kovel kept the licensing authorities at bay while a colleague, Cara Suvall, dealt with the criminal case. “I had the problem of how to prove his innocence,” Suvall said. “So we went and got a notarized letter from his fiancée saying that he really was visiting her. I took it to the district attorney, and they agreed to drop the charges.”

Still, the experience of Bradley and others prompted the Bronx Defenders
to file a class-action suit against the city. The case focussed on the N.Y.P.D.’s
Operation Clean Halls program, through which private landlords give the police advance permission to patrol their property…”

See full article here.