NYC Advocates Fear More Police Violence, Homeless Criminalization Amid Forced Hospitalizations New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued a directive this week that puts police at the center of renewed efforts to remove people exhibiting signs of mental illness from public spaces. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
How the NYPD’s Troubled Sex Crimes Unit Is Set Up To Fail Victims Former top cops say a culture of neglect at the NYPD has left inexperienced and poorly trained officers in charge of some of the department’s most sensitive cases. Meg O'Connor
A Homeless Man Has Spent 800 Days At Rikers After Stealing Cold Medicine. Now His Prison Sentence May Be Beginning. Blind in one eye and at risk of losing vision in the other, 58-year-old Reginald Randolph is now on the verge of being sent to state prison to serve out a maximum of four years. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
The Movement That Is Upending Landlords’ Power Over Tenants There has been a ‘parabolic increase’ in cities and states giving tenants a right to counsel to help fight evictions. Abigail Savitch-Lew
A Manhattan D.A. Candidate Touts Her Leadership of a Conviction Review Unit. Why Did It Exonerate So Few People? Under Tali Farhadian Weinstein’s leadership, Brooklyn’s unit exonerated just four people—a far lower rate than in previous years. Sam Mellins
The Movement to Guarantee Legal Help for Struggling Renters Is ‘Taking Root’ in Connecticut Only 7 percent of tenants in the state have legal representation in eviction proceedings. A bill in the Connecticut house is trying to change that. Bryce Covert
Maryland Could Be the First State to Provide Lawyers for Tenants Facing Eviction A bill passed by the state legislature, but yet to be enacted, would offer access to counsel for low-income renters. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
What New York City’s Next Mayor Can Do to Solve the Homelessness Crisis Creating a commission and a new deputy mayor of housing will give directly impacted people a much-needed voice in government—and help ensure a right to housing for all. Shams DaBaron
New York City Considers A Bold Idea To Keep People From Being Pushed Out Of Their Homes Activists are calling for a number of new policies to expand the reach of community land trusts. Abigail Savitch-Lew
Misdemeanor Convictions Cause Real Harm. New York Needs a New Approach Getting convicted of a “minor offense” inflicts serious, long-term harm. The state can and must divert more people to counseling, group meetings, or other interventions. Jackie Fielding, Chloe Sarnoff
How Tenants’ Right to Counsel Can End Inequality in the Eviction System—and Save Lives Ensuring renters have representation in housing court would help close a “justice gap” and be a life-saving intervention for those at risk of losing their homes. Emily Benfer
Most Tenants Facing Eviction Don’t Have a Right to an Attorney. Lawmakers Want to Change That Numerous city councils and state legislatures are debating giving renters a right to counsel, which can make the difference between stability and catastrophe. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
New York Moves A Step Closer To Decriminalizing Sex Work After organizing to repeal the “walking while trans” ban, advocates in the state—and around the country—are looking ahead to the next fight. Bryce Covert
New York City Mayoral Candidates Blast de Blasio’s Housing Record In a forum with people experiencing homelessness, Democratic candidates criticized the mayor’s affordable housing plans, embraced a ‘right to housing,’ and rejected police intervention on homelessness calls. Chris Gelardi
COVID-19 is Spreading Faster Than Ever. Jail Populations are Surging, Too In many of America’s major cities, the early efforts to reduce incarceration during the pandemic have been reversed. Jerry Iannelli
New Jersey Could Force Cuomo’s Hand on Pot Legalization The New York governor has released a plan to legalize marijuana, months after voters in the Garden State approved legalization in November. Advocates say the pressure could have ripple effects regionally. Joshua Vaughn
Don’t Delay on Closing Rikers The city says COVID-19 budget constraints will set back its plans to close the jail but people incarcerated there are suffering from the disease right now. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
3 Transformational Candidates That the Working Families Party Is Excited About The party's national director tells The Appeal about candidates in New York, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico that the WFP would like to see oust the establishment. Joshua Vaughn
We Can’t Let Our Children Go Hungry Since the pandemic began, vital programs that enable children to receive free meals, such as the National School Lunch Program, haven’t been reaching the families in need of support. Jamaal Bowman
NYPD Unit At Center Of Protest Policing Has Dozens Of Officers With Long Misconduct Histories Civil liberties experts say the Strategic Response Group’s recent crackdown on ICE protests is the most brutal suppression of protests in decades—and many of its officers are the subject of significant misconduct allegations, including a supervisor with 32 complaints. Ali Winston
As More States Turn To Mail-In Voting, Problems Pop Up Across Country Last week’s problems in New York were part of a widespread series of issues, both systemic and targeted, that are only now becoming fully apparent, activists say. Eoin Higgins
Policing Studies Measure Benefits To Crime Reduction—But Not Social Costs Research has shown only that police can be sufficient, not that they are necessary. John Pfaff
Tiffany Cabán: Why I Am Running For New York City Council In the face of a pandemic and police violence, elected leaders have failed to keep us safe and to champion the voices of marginalized communities like mine. Now it is time to determine our own future. Tiffany Cabán
New York Watchdogs Lack Data to Track Judges’ Compliance With Bail Reform Although the new law took effect in January, state data showing how courts are applying it won’t be available until July 2021. And without funding, courts in small towns and villages may never collect the data. Steven Yoder
Prosecutors Are Using Gang Laws To Criminalize Protest Prosecutors in states ranging from New York to Utah are using decades-old gang laws to target participants in the largest uprising against police brutality in U.S. history. Ali Winston
NYPD Expands Use Of Controversial Subpoenas To Criminal Cases Administrative subpoenas—which do not require a judge’s approval—are typically used for the department’s internal investigations, but The Appeal has learned that they are being used in criminal cases. Ali Winston
New York City Pledged to Fund Programs to Stop Domestic Violence Without Involving the Legal System. But There’s Disagreement About How to Do It. Rates of reporting domestic violence are low in immigrant communities, where survivors of abuse often don’t want to involve the police. As an alternative, the de Blasio administration promised to fund community-based domestic violence programming—but those funds were delayed, and advocates fear programs with strong community ties may not meet the city’s requirements. Roshan Abraham
How COVID-19 Is Affecting Assault Survivors Seeking Care In New York, fewer people who have experienced sexual assault or rape have sought forensic exams at hospitals during the pandemic. But advocates suggest that’s not evidence of declining sexual violence. Aviva Stahl
After Woman’s Arrest in Unmarked Van, New York City Activists Fear Targeting by NYPD Protesters believe law enforcement is looking for retribution after police arrested a woman Tuesday night and placed her in an unmarked van, a callback to recent events in Portland, Oregon. Chris Gelardi
‘It’s Feudalism, Pure Exploitation’ The Doe Fund says it pays homeless and formerly incarcerated people New York City’s minimum wage of $15 per hour. But the nonprofit charges weekly fees that can drive their wages below the federal minimum of $7.25. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
New York City Public Defenders Oppose Resuming In-Person Court Appearances The advocates describe the reopening as unsafe and unnecessary amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris Gelardi
The Financial Toll of COVID-19 Deaths Organizations in New York City have stepped in to help families with funeral costs and related matters in communities hit hard by the disease, but their money and resources are strained. Bryce Covert
How Prison Abolitionists Are Meeting The Moment The COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests over police brutality are strengthening the case against mass incarceration, advocates argue. Emily Nonko
Extreme Summer Heat Is Endangering Homeless People Amid COVID-19 Pandemic As a ‘heat dome’ descends on much of the country and local governments scramble to provide safe refuges, concern grows over the effect of a disease that has ‘totally demolished the homeless people.’ Daniel Moritz-Rabson
There Must Be Mass Releases From NYC Jails Immediately – It’s The Only Way To Protect Public Health New data obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request paint a dire picture of New York City COVID-19 testing in its jails. Brad Maurer, Seth J. Prins, Sandhya Kajeepeta
COVID-19 Hit New York City Homeless Shelters Hard, But Some Are Forced to Stay There Many city residents who’ve served time for sexual crimes have families who want them back, but a 19-year-old law keeps them away. Steven Yoder
Amid Calls to Reform Police, New York Activists and Lawmakers Demand An Elected Civilian Complaint Review Board A representative board is needed to check the power of the NYPD and appropriately discipline officers for misconduct, they argue. Amir Khafagy
Budget Cuts May Keep Rikers Open Past 2027 Deadline Reductions in budgets related to the novel coronavirus have slowed New York City’s plan to close Rikers by building new jails, and it’s becoming increasingly possible that the city will not meet its January 2027 deadline. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
New York City Laundry Workers Struggle in the Face of COVID-19 Workers report facing a difficult choice between earning a living and feeling safe and healthy at their job. Amir Khafagy
Legal Experts Question Use Of Federal Law To Prosecute Torching Of Empty NYPD Patrol Car During Protests Federal prosecutors argue that damaging a police vehicle is a violation of federal statutes in part because the police department receives federal funding. Former prosecutors and law professors say it’s an absurd rationale driven by politics of the Justice Department. Jerry Iannelli
The NYPD ‘Cancelled’ Police Court Appearances, Leaving People to Sit in Jail Memos obtained by The Appeal and anecdotes from public defenders reveal how, for a week during protests over police brutality, the NYPD stalled cases by directing officers not to testify in court. Chris Gelardi
For Essential Workers, New York City’s Curfew Meant Fear, Harassment, and Arrest Essential workers say curfews put them at risk of police violence, even though they were exempt. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
New York Legislators Pledge to Reject Campaign Donations From Law Enforcement State Assembly members, senators, and city council members have said they will decline and donate funds from police and corrections officers as New Yorkers fill the streets to protest recent violence by law enforcement. Bryce Covert
Nonprofit Landlords Have Gone The Extra Mile To Support Tenants During The Pandemic. But There’s Trouble Ahead. Many community development corporations assist not only tenants, but also a wider community of low-income people with a range of social services. Abigail Savitch-Lew
Advocates Push New York Governor for More Releases From Jails and Prisons The governor’s requirements for release are too narrow in light of the threat from COVID-19, they say. Bryce Covert
For Striking NYC Tenants With Notorious Landlords, the Problem Is Not Just COVID-19 Some are striking because they can’t afford to pay the rent. Others are striking in protest against what they say is inhumane treatment. Abigail Savitch-Lew
The Carceral Kings of New York As COVID-19 spreads, Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio are slashing budgets, but leaving funding for police and prisons largely untouched. Ross Barkan
DACA Workers Are Saving COVID-19 Patients’ Lives While Worrying About Their Own The Supreme Court will soon decide the fate of 650,000 so-called Dreamers across the country. Lawyers say terminating protections for them during a pandemic would be 'catastrophic.' Liz Robbins
New York City Must Take Action to Ensure the Most Vulnerable Survive the Pandemic The city has created the structural conditions that have engendered disproportionately high rates of infection and death among its Black and Latinx residents. TS Candii, Darializa Avila Chevalier
New York Lawmakers Push for Real Rent Relief Amid COVID-19 Outbreak Their proposals move beyond Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 90-day eviction moratorium and call for suspending or forgiving rent payments longer term. Bryce Covert
Avoid Austerity To Prevent A State And Local Coronavirus Depression Local budget cuts enacted a decade ago left states and cities dangerously unprepared for COVID-19. We shouldn’t make those same mistakes again. Nathan Tankus
Cities Fighting Coronavirus Must Provide Housing For The Homeless Taking emergency measures to protect homeless people from the pandemic is simply common sense. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Lessons from Hurricane Katrina For The COVID-19 Recovery To Come Powerful interests exploited Katrina to enrich themselves and transform the city. As a reporter who covered the fallout explains, our government’s lax oversight means the same could happen now, leaving those who most need help behind. Gary Rivlin
New York Retreats on Bail Reform Amid Coronavirus Outbreak The state, which accounts for roughly one-third of all positive COVID-19 cases in the country, is facing a rapid spread of the disease in its jail and prison systems. Bryce Covert
As Coronavirus Spreads, So Does Panic and Confusion at Immigration Courts Across The U.S. Lawyers, judges, and advocates for migrant children wonder what it will take to close all 69 immigration courts. ‘I hope that it won’t take a death, but I worry that it will,’ one lawyer said. Liz Robbins
Coronavirus Raises Questions On How To Meet Court-Ordered Obligations Many programs for people on parole, probation, or supervision take place in group settings—the exact opposite of what public health officials are recommending in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. Elizabeth Brico
New York City Jails Have an Alarmingly High Infection Rate, According to an Analysis by the Legal Aid Society “Based on this analysis, New York City jails have become the epicenter of COVID-19,” a Legal Aid attorney said. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
‘Is My Life Not As Valuable As Yours?’ Immigration Judges Want All Courts Shut Down As Coronavirus Cases Soar The Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies are intersecting with a highly contagious disease at a time when cities across the country are shutting down. Liz Robbins
New York City Courts Still Dangerous For Spread of Coronavirus, Public Defenders Say While those facing charges appear by video at arraignments, all others—attorneys, officers, the judge—are in the courtroom in close quarters, defense attorneys say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Rikers Island Physician Voices Coronavirus Fears As Cuomo Meets With Officials Looking To Scuttle Bail Reforms Late Wednesday, the chief physician at the Rikers jail complex said on Twitter that judges and prosecutors must not leave New York City's jailed population ‘in harm’s way.’ Lauren Gill
Washington, D.C. Continues Low-level Arrests Amid Pandemic The Metropolitan Police Department has discussed reducing arrests, but it has not formally announced any policy changes. Jon Campbell
Pressure Builds on New York Governor To Address Coronavirus Impact on Prisoners Andrew Cuomo, who recently announced the state would employ prisoners to make hand sanitizer, must prepare for the particular vulnerabilities of the state’s prison population to COVID-19, advocates say. Bryce Covert
New York City Agency Has Underreported Lab Errors In DNA Database It Oversees At least one error led to a wrongful arrest, according to a Freedom of Information Law request, underscoring the need for better oversight of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, advocates say. Aaron Morrison
A Lack Of Evidence Doesn’t Keep The New York Times From Declaring a ‘Spike In Crime’ In two articles, the Times asserts a ‘spike’ in crime since the passage of bail reform in New York, an increase that the articles themselves note they can’t prove. Adam H. Johnson
New Video Of Fatal Shooting By NYPD In 2016 Raises Questions About Officer’s Account to Investigators A civil suit claims that an officer who shot a 46-year-old stagehand in Midtown Manhattan should have de-escalated the encounter. Jon Campbell
How New York’s Bail Reforms Are Playing Out in a Queens Court Despite dire-sounding headlines, the state’s cash bail reforms are having a positive impact on the people they are meant to help. Bryce Covert
Internal Affairs Investigators Raid NYPD’s Special Victims Division for Third Time Logbooks were seized as part of an inquiry into misconduct allegations against high-ranking officers in the division that investigates sex crimes. Meg O'Connor
‘They Can Do This To Anybody’ Misconduct complaints against officers in the NYPD’s 34th Precinct have risen for three years straight. In 2018, 15 officers had complaints against them substantiated, the most of any precinct in New York City. Ali Winston
Legislation on New York City’s Sprawling Systems of Surveillance Finally Gets A Hearing A City Council Committee considers a bill on NYPD surveillance today. Ali Winston
Hundreds of Victim and Witness DNA Profiles Removed From New York City Database Advocates say the removals are more evidence of a troubling and unregulated law enforcement tool, overseen by the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Aaron Morrison
Michael Bloomberg Should Apologize For More Than Stop-and-Frisk, Critics Say The billionaire and former New York City mayor defended the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslim Americans and mandatory minimum prison sentences for gun possession, among other policies. Aaron Morrison
New York Subway Police Make Us Less Safe Recent violent arrests in the city subways should make New Yorkers question the push by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the MTA to hire 500 new transit police. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
It’s Time to Fight the Democratic Mayors Who Are Champions of the Carceral State The mayors of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco wrap themselves in the language of progressivism, but when it comes to the criminal legal system they’re Trumpian. Kelly Hayes
Exploiting New York City’s Chinatown Killings to Attack Bail Reform The New York Post used a tragedy to target bail reform activists, rather than point to the challenges of a failed mental health system and poverty. Adam H. Johnson
Say No to New Jails in New York City The mayor claims that building new jails is the only safe way to close Rikers Island jail complex, but the City Council shouldn’t fall for this Faustian bargain. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
New York Law Removes ‘Unnecessary’ Step for Children Charged With Felonies 16-year-olds won’t have to reappear in adult criminal court if they’re arrested when youth court isn’t in session. Lauren Gill
‘Is This The Guy?’ Police and prosecutors claimed facial recognition technology wasn’t at the center of a shoplifting case, but defense attorneys say it was the sole basis for probable cause to arrest. Mike Hayes
In Queens D.A. Race, Criminal Justice Reform Is The Real Winner Establishment candidate Melinda Katz declared a narrow victory in the New York City borough’s district attorney primary, but progressive Tiffany Cabán pushed the race to the left on issues like marijuana and sex work. Aaron Morrison
A Night in Jail Over $2.75 In 2017, the Manhattan district attorney pledged not to pursue criminal charges for subway fare evasion. Now the MTA is increasing the system’s police presence. Bryce Covert
Bronx Cops Celebrated A Copwatcher’s Arrest. They Had No Idea They Were Caught On Tape. New York City just paid Jose LaSalle of the Copwatch Patrol Unit nearly $900,000 over claims of false arrest related to the 2016 incident, but his fight for justice is far from over. Ashoka Jegroo
‘They Sent Him to His Cell to Die’ Rashad McNulty entered a guilty plea in a series of federal gang indictments in New York that have been criticized as racist and overly punitive. But before McNulty was even sentenced, he died in jail. Now, his family is seeking justice. Aaron Morrison
‘It Was Almost Worse Than The Incident Itself’ New NYPD data show that in 2018 the department closed nearly 500 rape cases due to an alleged lack of participation from victims and had a declining clearance rate for rape, raising questions over its handling of sexual assault. Meg O'Connor
‘I Had Nothing’: How Parole Perpetuates a Cycle of Incarceration and Instability Richard Cannon was making gains after being released from prison. Then one arrest changed the course of his life. Raven Rakia
New York Lawmakers Want To Ban Sex Offenders From The Subway. That Won’t Solve Anything. Banishing people from the subway will only marginalize them without addressing the problem. Guy Hamilton-Smith
New York City Looks To Eliminate Hidden Bail Fees As they await statewide action to eliminate cash bail, city councilmembers are looking for ways to reduce the financial burden on families of incarcerated people. Bryce Covert
Judge Attacks NYPD Practice of Seizing Teens’ DNA Without Parental Consent The decision also held that the city’s routine storage of DNA profiles from nonconvicted people in a permanent database violates state law. George Joseph
Despite New Rules, NYC Is Still Jailing People Long After They Post Bail A new Bronx Freedom Fund report documents these extended pretrial lockups, which threaten people’s jobs and destabilize families. George Joseph
The ‘Hypocritical’ Loophole in New York’s Pledge to Stop Prosecuting Marijuana People caught vaping marijuana oil face the same charge as for low-level heroin possession. Raven Rakia
Facing Lawsuit, NYPD Changes How Officers Use Sealed Arrest Data Arrests that result in dropped charges and dismissals are supposed to be sealed. But until recently, the NYPD used these records to target turnstile jumpers. Simon Davis-Cohen, George Joseph
Public Defenders Say New York’s New Policy To Reduce Marijuana Arrests Doesn’t Go Far Enough The exceptions to the policy change could actually worsen the racial disparities in marijuana-related arrests, defense attorneys told The Appeal. Raven Rakia
How decriminalizing sex work became a campaign issue in 2018 State Senate candidate Julia Salazar explains how sex workers’ rights is a key part of reforming criminal justice in New York. Melissa Gira Grant
How Activists Convinced New York City To Stop Profiting Off Prisoners’ Phone Calls News of the victory is spreading rapidly to other cities. Bryce Covert
The Court Watch Movement Wants To Expose The ‘House of Cards’ Prosecutors and judges across the country are starting to feel eyes on them. Bryce Covert
Mayors Who Care About Child Separation Should Look in Their Own Backyards Families are torn apart by the criminal justice system every day. Josie Duffy Rice
‘Whores Will Rise’ As part of International Whores' Day, hundreds gathered in New York City to protest new anti-sex work laws. Melissa Gira Grant
#SwipeItForward & the Decriminalization of Farebeating in New York City Activists in New York City are engaging in profound acts of resistance against over-policing in the subways. Politicians are listening, but are they really hearing them? Jocelyn Simonson
Bronx prosecutor, detectives allegedly bullied witnesses to make case against Pedro Hernandez Carimah Townes
