Judge grants class-action status to stop-and-frisk lawsuit
May 16th, 2012
A federal judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit alleging the New York Police Department improperly targeted blacks and Hispanics with its stop-and-frisk crime reduction program.
U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, who wrote the decision filed today in court, wrote that it was “indisputable” that the NYPD has a vast stop-and-frisk program “designed, implemented and monitored” by the department’s administration. She said over 2.8 million stops were made between 2004 and 2009.
She wrote that the city had demonstrated “a deeply troubling apathy towards New Yorkers’ most fundamental constitutional rights.”
Police released data Friday showing an increase in the number of stops on city streets between January and March of this year. The data showed there were 203,500 street stops, compared to 183,326 in 2011.
The city’s Law Department said it disagreed with the judge’s decision and was reviewing its legal options.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has strongly defended the practicing and, during a City Council hearing last month, pugnaciously argued that the policy had successfully reduced violence among young men of color.
By Cristian Salazar on May 16, 2012, 4:16 pmIn category: City Hall, Civil Rights | No Comments »
