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The ruling was deemed a victory by the Center for Constitutional Rights who represented the lead plaintiff David Floyd in the case Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al.
According to a group statement, CCR declared:
Today is a victory for all New Yorkers. After more than 5 million stops conducted under the current administration, hundreds of thousands of them illegal and discriminatory, the NYPD has finally been held accountable. It is time for the City to stop denying the problem and work with the community to fix it.
Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin concluded in her opinion that in supporting the controversial tactic, the NYPD had "turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner."
She added, "No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life."
As was highlighted throughout the course of the trial, the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactics led to 5 million stops of mostly black and Latino men since 2004--the bulk of whom had neither committed a crime nor done anything to warrant suspicion from the police. As the court heard, 90 percent of those stopped after 2004 were found innocent.
Scheindlin, however, did not order a complete embargo on stop-and-frisk.
Rather than ending the practice, Scheindlin designated an outside lawyer, Peter L. Zimroth, to monitor the NYPD's actions and to ensure stop-and-frisk procedures are in compliance with the U.S. Constitution.
Scheindlin also ordered at least five police precincts across the city to wear body-worn cameras in an effort to record their street encounters as well as a "joint remedial process" which will include a series of community meetings "to solicit public input on how to reform stop-and-frisk," as the New York Times reports.
As CCR warned Monday, the NYPD "won't change overnight," urging that there is much work to be done in the "police accountability movement" to ensure the NYPD abides by the court ruling.
City officials have not said whether they plan to appeal.
_______________________
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.

The ruling was deemed a victory by the Center for Constitutional Rights who represented the lead plaintiff David Floyd in the case Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al.
According to a group statement, CCR declared:
Today is a victory for all New Yorkers. After more than 5 million stops conducted under the current administration, hundreds of thousands of them illegal and discriminatory, the NYPD has finally been held accountable. It is time for the City to stop denying the problem and work with the community to fix it.
Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin concluded in her opinion that in supporting the controversial tactic, the NYPD had "turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner."
She added, "No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life."
As was highlighted throughout the course of the trial, the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactics led to 5 million stops of mostly black and Latino men since 2004--the bulk of whom had neither committed a crime nor done anything to warrant suspicion from the police. As the court heard, 90 percent of those stopped after 2004 were found innocent.
Scheindlin, however, did not order a complete embargo on stop-and-frisk.
Rather than ending the practice, Scheindlin designated an outside lawyer, Peter L. Zimroth, to monitor the NYPD's actions and to ensure stop-and-frisk procedures are in compliance with the U.S. Constitution.
Scheindlin also ordered at least five police precincts across the city to wear body-worn cameras in an effort to record their street encounters as well as a "joint remedial process" which will include a series of community meetings "to solicit public input on how to reform stop-and-frisk," as the New York Times reports.
As CCR warned Monday, the NYPD "won't change overnight," urging that there is much work to be done in the "police accountability movement" to ensure the NYPD abides by the court ruling.
City officials have not said whether they plan to appeal.
_______________________
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.

The ruling was deemed a victory by the Center for Constitutional Rights who represented the lead plaintiff David Floyd in the case Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al.
According to a group statement, CCR declared:
Today is a victory for all New Yorkers. After more than 5 million stops conducted under the current administration, hundreds of thousands of them illegal and discriminatory, the NYPD has finally been held accountable. It is time for the City to stop denying the problem and work with the community to fix it.
Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin concluded in her opinion that in supporting the controversial tactic, the NYPD had "turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner."
She added, "No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life."
As was highlighted throughout the course of the trial, the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactics led to 5 million stops of mostly black and Latino men since 2004--the bulk of whom had neither committed a crime nor done anything to warrant suspicion from the police. As the court heard, 90 percent of those stopped after 2004 were found innocent.
Scheindlin, however, did not order a complete embargo on stop-and-frisk.
Rather than ending the practice, Scheindlin designated an outside lawyer, Peter L. Zimroth, to monitor the NYPD's actions and to ensure stop-and-frisk procedures are in compliance with the U.S. Constitution.
Scheindlin also ordered at least five police precincts across the city to wear body-worn cameras in an effort to record their street encounters as well as a "joint remedial process" which will include a series of community meetings "to solicit public input on how to reform stop-and-frisk," as the New York Times reports.
As CCR warned Monday, the NYPD "won't change overnight," urging that there is much work to be done in the "police accountability movement" to ensure the NYPD abides by the court ruling.
City officials have not said whether they plan to appeal.
_______________________