Step-by-step, the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactic will be ended. Today, a major step was taken by a federal judge in NYC to ensure that this reprehensible policing "strategy" will be stopped - hopefully before millions more are frisked.
From The New York Times:
Updated, 12:20 p.m. |
Saying the New York Police Department seems to have little regard for constitutional rights, a federal judge on Wednesday elevated to class-action status a lawsuit accusing officers of using race as a factor in stopping people on the city’s streets, opening the door to a vast number of additional plaintiffs.
The decision by the judge, Shira A. Scheindlin, of Federal District Court, (see also below) provides possible legal recourse for hundreds of thousands of people who have been caught up in the Police Department’s increasingly vigorous stop-and-frisk practice, which critics say unjustly ensnares blacks and Latinos.
{snip}
The suit was filed on behalf of the lead plaintiff, David Floyd, and three others, by the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Darius Charney, a lawyer with the center, pointed out a portion of the decision in which the judge noted that there was “indisputable evidence” that the department’s street-stop program stemmed in design and implementation from the highest levels of the [NYPD].
“This is not just about five or six bad officers; this is about a whole department’s policies and practices,” Mr. Charney said. “Which is why the best way to proceed with this case is as a class action because if affects hundreds of thousands of people in the city.”
For a comprehensive analysis of NYPD's stop-and-frisk program, I recommend
teacherken's diary "
Injustices of Stop and Frisk"