Federal Judge Reverses Stop-and-Frisk Ruling
A federal judge is allowing the NYPD to resume a stop-and-frisk program in the Bronx called "Operation Clean Halls" that she ruled unconstitutional on Jan. 8.
City officials argued the immediate halt would financially burden the NYPD because it would call for them to retrain thousands of police officers and their supervisors to stop suspicious trespassers without acting unconstitutionally.
“A certain number of unconstitutional stops are likely to take place that would not have taken place in the absence of a stay,” said Manhattan Judge Shira Scheindlin on Tuesday.
"On the other hand, allowing a longstanding unconstitutional practice to persist for a few months while the parties present arguments regarding the appropriate scope of a remedy is quite distinct from allowing such a practice to persist until the competition of a trial,” she said.
In the meantime, Scheindlin is still deciding further relief tactics for her ruling and the lawsuit Floyd v. City that is also challenging stop-and-frisk tactics.
That case goes to trail March 18.
“Nothing in this decision changes or undermines the Court's finding that the NYPD has a practice of unconstitutional trespass stops,” Christopher Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union told the Daily News. The NYCLU brought the lawsuit challenging the “Clean Halls” trespass stops. “All the court has done is to say it wants to consider all possible remedies at a single hearing this spring.”
BET National News - Keep up to date with breaking news stories from around the nation, including headlines from the hip hop and entertainment world. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
(Photo: Daniel Barry/Getty Images)