Judge finds NYC ‘stop and frisk’ unconstitutional, orders monitor
by Joseph P. Tartaro
In a landmark decision involving two class-action lawsuits handed down Aug. 12, a federal court found the New York City Police Department’s highly controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy unconstitutional as practiced on at least two grounds.
TGM has previously reported on the “stop and frisk” program that was originated under Mayor Rudy Giuliani but vastly accelerated during Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s tenure.
Bloomberg’s office announced immediately after the 198-page ruling that the city would appeal, although some civil rights groups urged the mayor to abandon an appeal.
In her ruling, federal Circuit Judge Shira Sheindlin found the NYPD’s “stop and frisk” practices violate New Yorkers’ Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and also found the practices were racially discriminatory in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
To remedy the widespread constitutional violations, the judge ordered a court-appointed monitor to oversee a series of reforms to NYPD policing practices and also ordered a Joint Remedial Process which will solicit input from a variety of stakeholders, including New York communities most directly affected by policing.
The court’s ruling followed a 10-week trial that concluded on May 20. The lead class action lawsuit, Floyd v. City of New York, was brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).
CCR Senior Staff Attorney Darius Charney said, “This historic victory is the result not only of our 14 years of litigation, but of decades’ worth of efforts by activists, grassroots and legal organizations, and affected communities. The NYPD is finally being held to account for its longstanding illegal and discriminatory policing practices. The City must now stop denying the problem and partner with the community to create a police department that protects the safety and respects the rights of all New Yorkers.”
A CCR statement noted that in 2011, the NYPD reported a record 685,724 stops—a 600% increase since Raymond Kelly took over as NYPD Commissioner in 2002. Eighty-four percent of those stopped were Black or Latino, and 88% of the people stopped were neither arrested nor received summonses. Despite the stated purpose of the policy, weapons and contraband were recovered less than 2% of the time.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
