Speak Out Network
Judge grants class action status to lawsuit against NYPD's unconstitutional and racially-discriminatory “stop-and-frisk” tactic.
In her latest 57-page ruling released on Wednesday, US District Judge Shira Scheindlin referred to the tactic as "deeply troubling," adding that there was "overwhelming evidence" of thousands of unlawful stops by the police, The Guardian reported.
Darius Charney, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has filed the lawsuit, said, "The Court has rightly recognized that illegal stops-and-frisks are not limited to a few rogue police officers, but are the product of a program designed at the highest level of the police department and affect hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of New Yorkers.”
The judge announced that a hearing on the case will be held on May 29.
According to the ruling, the class in question will be all "persons stopped or stopped and frisked on the basis of being black or Latino" since January 2005.
It says that the NYPD will punish officers if they do not use the tactic regularly.
The NYPD says it has made over two hundred thousand street stops from January to April this year, almost 25 percent more than last year’s record.
The police and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have defended the tactic, arguing that the policy has led to a historic drop in crime rates and prevented thousands of deaths.
MHB/GJH/HN
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Jacquelyn N'Jai on -
This is crazy..
-
Permalink Reply by Ricardo Jones on -
Racial profiling is a common practice against Black's in NYC. The NYPD set-up safety checks points near housing projects where people of color live. The criminals who aren't of color get a free pass from the NYPD in NYC. Many have a get-out of jail card (PBA card) they buy from their NYPD officer friends. This card get them special treatment before and after arrest by NYPD and NYC jailers. NYC is the largest Black community in the country and the Blacks can't or won't spot this civil rights violation. This is the tip of the iceberg. Many young blacks are arrested for no reason and forced into the corrupt criminal justice system. If the young Blacks could get work or find work they wouldn't be profiled illegally by the NYPD. Most of the Black complaints of Title VII race (black) discrimination are dismissed by the rogue EEOC, DOL and city and states human rights agencies. This must stop now what has the DOJ done look the other way.
© 2013 Created by Smiley and West.
