Erie County Convicted 11 People of Violating a Law Ruled Unconstitutional Over 20 Years Ago by Federal Court by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss Erie County, New York, wrongfully convicted 11 people under a law that was ruled unconstitutional over 20 years ago — yet is still listed in the …

NYPD’s Controversial Use of Mugshot Database Searches by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke  The NYPD’s practice of using a crime victim or witness’ description of a perpetrator to generate a search of the department’s mugshot database, often generating hundreds of hits, has caused controversy and resulted in wrongful arrests.  New …

New York City No Charge Phone Calls The New York City Council City Hall New York, NY 10007 Legislation Text File #: Int 0741-2018, Version: A Int. No. 741-A By The Speaker (Council Member Johnson), and Council Members Brannan, Rosenthal, Powers, Levin, Ampry -Samuel, Rivera, Espinal, Gibson, Rose, Cumbo, Williams, …

HRDC v. NY State AG, FOIL public records complaint and MOL, 2019 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF ALBANY HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER Petitioner, Index No. -againstNEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL; MICHAEL JERRY, in his official capacity as Records Access Officer; and KATHRYN …

NYPD Gang Database Lacks Transparency, Limits Due Process by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The New York Police Department (“NYPD”) expanded its gang database to include more than 42,000 New Yorkers during a time when gang-related activity is at an all-time low in the city. Placement is secretive with little-known …

NY Election Websites Tell Parolees They Can’t Vote, Even Though They Can by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell Months after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo granted voting rights to most of the state’s parolees, state election websites still say they cannot vote. More than half the board of elections’ websites …

Bronx Prosecutors Trained to Manipulate System to Delay Trials by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Recently revealed internal training documents from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office show that prosecutors are being trained in courtroom techniques designed to delay trial, undermining defendants’ speedy trial rights and extending the pretrial incarceration of …

New York Mass Bail Out Action Targets Bail System Manipulation by Virginia Griese by Virginia Griese Throughout October, more than 105 women and teens incarcerated at Rikers Island and juvenile facilities had their bail paid by hundreds of volunteers and walked to freedom.  The Mass Bail Out Action (“MBOA”), organized …

N.Y. Court of Appeals Announces When Trial Commences for Timeliness of Pro Se Requests by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon As most jurisdictions do from time to time as need dictates, they change or even completely overhaul appellate procedures, evidentiary rules, and various codes. In 1971, New York state adopted …

Jackson v. City of New York, et al., NY, Letter, Excessive Force on Off-Duty Cop, 2019 Case 1:11-cv-03028-PKC-SMG Document 139 Filed 01/02/19 Page 1 of 2 PageID #: 3743 THE CITY OF NEW YORK LAW DEPARTMENT ZACHARY W. CARTER Corporation Counsel BRIAN FRANCOLLA Senior Counsel Phone: (212) 356-3527 Fax: (212) …

New York City Board of Correction - Serious Injury Reports in NYC Jails, 2019 Serious Injury Reports in NYC Jails January 2019 Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Background ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Current Serious Injury Reporting Procedures and Policies ........................................................................... 6 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Findings ......................................................................................................................................................... 9 Injury to Inmate …

Very Few Have Taken Advantage of New York’s Program to Seal Criminal Records by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Some of the lines to one of late country music singer Merle Haggard’s famous hit songs were about a “branded man, out in the cold.” He was lamenting that no one …

Report: NYPD Assisted in Creating Facial Recognition Technology by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss IBM and the New York Police Department (“NYPD”) collaborated on the development of the computer giant’s facial recognition technology, The Intercept has revealed. The program began in 2008 when IBM used the threat of possible terrorist …

New York City Cops Using Supposedly Sealed Arrest Records by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Since 1976, arrests in New York that do not result in convictions are supposed to be sealed. Sealed meaning inaccessible through any background checks or public records, anywhere. This is meant to ensure that citizens …

$384 Million Paid Out by New York City in Last Five Years for Police Misconduct by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna New York City police misconduct continues to cost New York taxpayers a lot of money. In the past five years, New York City has paid out $384 million in …

ACLU Report: A Tale of Two NYCs When It Comes to Policing by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna A September 2018 report by the New York American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) argues that the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) continues to target minority communities by following a broken-windows theory …

Second Circuit Announces Prisoners Have First Amendment Right Not to Snitch or Provide False Information to Prison Officials by Richard Resch by Richard Resch In its opinion issued on May 9, 2018, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a prisoner has a First Amendment right …

New York Court of Appeals: Excited Utterance Must Be Based on Personal Observation to Be Admissible as Exception to Hearsay Rule by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The New York Court of Appeals reversed a conviction in which an “excited utterance” overheard in the background on a 911 call ostensibly …

Second Circuit Denies NYPD Qualified Immunity for Use of Military-Grade Acoustic Weapon on Peaceful Protesters by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dealt the New York Police Department a blow in its attempt to avoid liability for using an acoustic weapon developed …

Brooklyn, New York’s Top Prosecutor Opens Door for Expungement of Pot Convictions by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez has announced that he will accept applications from thousands of individuals to erase their low-level marijuana convictions in a program unveiled in September 2018. He said his …