November 3, 2015, New York – Today, in response to the court-appointed monitor in the landmark stop-and-frisk case Floyd v. City of New York launching a website on the Joint Remedial Process that lays out the components of the community solicitation and engagement portion of the remedial reforms ordered by the court, thereby commencing the substantive work of the process, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:
After a long time planning, we are encouraged that a critical feature of the reform of the NYPD’s policing practices, the Joint Remedial Process, is taking a major step forward. As contemplated by the court-appointed facilitator, CCR, and stakeholder community groups, the upcoming phase of the JRP will engage with a large number of focus groups of individuals living in a variety of communities that suffer disproportionately from stop and frisk. That phase of the JRP will eventually transition in the winter to large community forums. Taken as a whole, the JRP is designed to generate innovative and necessary reforms from those communities who are most affected by the NYPD’s discriminatory policing practices, which we are hopeful will help transform the police department into one that protects the rights of all New Yorkers. Along with our engagement with the separate set of reforms developed by the court-appointed monitor, we are committed to making the Joint Remedial Process meaningful and robust.
The class action lawsuit, Floyd v. City of New York, found the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices to be racially discriminatory and in violation of Fourth Amendment prohibitions on unreasonable searches and seizures. In addition to ordering specifically identified reforms to be implemented under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor, the court also ordered the Joint Remedial Process, which will include input from affected communities. CCR and co-counsel have worked with the JRP facilitator and affected community groups to develop the contours of the JRP.
Beldock Levine and Hoffman LLP, Covington & Burling LLP, and Demos are co-counsel in the case.
Learn more about the Joint Reform Process.
The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.