Class Action Lawsuit Challenges NYPD Patrols of Private Apartment Buildings
The NYPDs enforcement of Operation Clean Halls, a part of the Departments stop-and-frisk program that allows police officers to patrol thousands of private apartment buildings across New York City, violates the rights of residents of those buildings and their guests largely black and Latino New Yorkers according to a federal class-action lawsuit filed today by the New York Civil Liberties Union, LatinoJustice PRLDEF and The Bronx Defenders. Operation Clean Halls has placed hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, mostly black and Latino, under siege in their own homes, NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. For residents of Clean Halls buildings, taking the garbage out or checking the mail can result in being thrown against the wall and humiliated by police. Untold numbers of people have been wrongly arrested for trespassing because they had the audacity to leave their apartments without IDs or visit friends and family who live in Clean Halls buildings. This aggressive assault on peoples constitutional rights must be stopped. ... The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of residents of buildings enrolled in Operation Clean Halls and individuals who were unlawfully stopped and arrested on trespassing charges through the program. The City of New York, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and individual police officers who were involved in unlawful arrests are listed as defendants. It maintains that the NYPDs enforcement of Operation Clean Halls violates the U.S. Constitution, the New York State Constitution, the federal Fair Housing Act and New York common law. Plaintiff Jacqueline Yates lives in an apartment building in the Bronx enrolled in the program. Yates two teenage sons are regularly harassed by NYPD officers in her buildings stairwells, lobby and courtyard. Her friends and family are reluctant to visit her out of fear of being stopped by police and potentially arrested for trespassing. My children shouldnt be treated like criminal suspects in their home. They shouldnt expect to be bothered by police officers every time they leave our apartment, Yates said. I believe the NYPD has a role to play in our community. But right now, they dont make us feel safe. We feel under attack in our homes. http://www.nyclu.org/news/class-action-lawsuit-challenges-nypd-patrols-of-private-apartment-buildings J - Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:349286 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
