Stop and Frisk: City's Request for Stay - Denied
- New York City 09/17/2013 by Linda Perry Barr (WBAI News)
U.S. District Court Judge Shira Sheindlin, who ruled on the Stop and Frisk Trial, Floyd vs. City of New York, denied the Bloomberg administration's request for a stay in her court's August 12 orders.
Judge Sheindlin writes:
"There is little doubt that the decrease in stops from their zenith in 2011 to today is due, in part, to this Court’s orders over the past several years, as well as the criticisms of the City’s stop and frisk practices from diverse sources throughout the City. Ordering a stay now would send precisely the wrong signal. It would essentially confirm that the past practices, resulting in hundreds of thousands of stops — overwhelmingly of minorities — that resulted in little or no enforcement action or seizure of contraband were justified and based on constitutional police practices. It would also send the message that reducing the number of stops is somehow dangerous to the residents of this City. Because neither proposition is accurate, the granting of a stay is not in the public interest. By contrast, allowing a process of consultation with all stakeholders, and recommendations for measured reform, is in the public interest."
Judge Sheindlin writes:
"There is little doubt that the decrease in stops from their zenith in 2011 to today is due, in part, to this Court’s orders over the past several years, as well as the criticisms of the City’s stop and frisk practices from diverse sources throughout the City. Ordering a stay now would send precisely the wrong signal. It would essentially confirm that the past practices, resulting in hundreds of thousands of stops — overwhelmingly of minorities — that resulted in little or no enforcement action or seizure of contraband were justified and based on constitutional police practices. It would also send the message that reducing the number of stops is somehow dangerous to the residents of this City. Because neither proposition is accurate, the granting of a stay is not in the public interest. By contrast, allowing a process of consultation with all stakeholders, and recommendations for measured reform, is in the public interest."