To the Editor: Daniel Leddy overlooks convincing evidence that New York City Police Department officers unlawfully stop and frisk hundreds of thousands of innocent people annually (“NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy is prudent, lawful, Advance, May 8”).

To the Editor: The state Assembly took an important stand for equality and justice last week by overwhelmingly passing the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which will extend basic civil rights protections to transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers. No statewide law explicitly prohibits discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming people, who often face harassment and mistreatment in their daily lives. People who are fired from jobs, denied housing and services and mistreated because of their appearance or gender identity have no clear legal protection.

To the Editor: Under optimal circumstances, DNA evidence is a precise law enforcement tool. Unfortunately, the circumstances aren’t always optimal. Research shows that DNA evidence is highly susceptible to human error, fraud and abuse. Without proper oversight, this leads to innocent people being imprisoned. Consider a recent case in Las Vegas in which a mix-up of DNA samples led to a teenager being wrongfully convicted of a robbery. The mistake cost the young man four years in prison.

To the Editor: District attorneys like to portray DNA evidence as infallible, but the real world doesn’t unfold like a CSI episode. In truth, DNA evidence is highly susceptible to human error, fraud and abuse. Lawmakers must address this reality before they expand the state’s DNA databank.

To the Editor: The recent shooting death of Kenneth Chamberlain looks on the surface like too many other cases of police officers overreacting to African-American men, shooting to kill when less deadly reactions might have defused a situation.

To the Editor: A recent Post-Standard news article and editorial pointed to measures Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler has undertaken to improve police accountability. I was quoted in the article praising Fowler for taking steps to incorporate an early warning system and improve internal affairs procedures.

To the Editor: Re “Guarding Privacy May Not Always Protect Patients” (18 and Under, July 12): A wealth of research shows that access to confidential reproductive health care benefits teenage patients. Although many minors voluntarily consult adult family members on questions about sexual health, others do not feel comfortable, or fear, doing so. New York’s confidentiality laws ensure young people will get the care they need.

To the editor: The NYCLU Capital Region Chapter has monitored the Albany Citizen Police Review Board since the agency’s inception in 2000. We have worked with the CPRB to increase its presence in the community and improve its ability to provide effective and responsible oversight of the Albany Police Department. There is much more work to do.

To the Editor: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget proposes to eliminate all funding for Prisoner Legal Services of New York, the only organization that provides direct legal services to protect the basic human rights of incarcerated people statewide. Prisoner Legal Services, which has been funded by the state for nearly 40 years, is essential to ensuring fairness and access to justice for the more than 57,000 New Yorkers in state prisons. It is crucial that the Legislature restore the funding.

To the Editor: If lawmakers and clergy want to reduce the number of abortions in New York, they should back initiatives that would help struggling parents, including paid family leave, paid sick leave and pay equity. They also should support the Healthy Teens Act, which would educate New York's children on how to prevent pregnancies. After enacting these initiatives, they could fight for state-subsidized child care - a cornerstone of support in many European countries with dramatically lower abortion rates than the United States. Corinne A. Carey