A federal appellate court Wednesday denied the City's request to appeal a lawsuit challenging the racial discrimination of the New York City Police Department's controversial stop-and-frisks policy.
Floyd v. City of New York, is a federal class action lawsuit, led by the Center for Constitutional Rights, filed against the New York City Police Department and the City of New York challenging NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy. The Center calls the practice unconstitutional and racial profiling against black and Latino males.
On October 26, 2010, CCR released an expert report (PDF) for Floyd. The report showed that although they account for only 4.7 percent of the city’s population, black and Latino males between the ages of 14-24 accounted for 41.6 percent of the stops in 2011. The number of stops of young black men exceeded the entire city population of young black men.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has defended the policy, blasting community leaders for what he believes is a lack of response to the recent spate of gun violence.
“Many of them will speak out about stop-and-frisk” but are “shockingly silent when it comes to the level of violence right in their own communities,” said Kelly at a press conference in July.
On May 16, 2012, a Judge issued an order granting the Plaintiffs' Class Certification Motion. The City appealed the order and today, the Court of Appeals denied the City's motion.
“The NYPD’s own numbers show that communities of color and Black & Latino youth have been the victims of this stop & frisk policy. No citizen deserves this treatment and we can’t stand for it,” said City Councilmember Al Vann.
Other New York City politicians, including City Council speaker Christine Quinn, have called for more dramatic reforms of the policy.
“The City’s last-ditch effort at delaying the trial – the appeal of our class certification – was resolved today," CCR Senior Attorney Darius Charney told Patch, "There's nothing standing in the way of our proceeding to trial now.”
The trial for the law suit is scheduled for March 18, 2013.
