Grand Jury Secrecy Called into Question after Court Denies Release of Garner Proceedings

Today the Court of Appeals denied the New York Civil Liberties Union’s motion requesting leave to appeal a lower court’s decision to keep secret records from the Grand Jury which failed to indict an NYPD officer in Eric Garner’s death. The NYCLU’s request contended that the public cannot make necessary decisions on wide-ranging grand jury reforms that have been proposed specifically to address the Garner grand jury’s conduct, without itself knowing exactly how the grand jury proceedings were conducted.

“The apparent injustice of the grand jury’s decision in the Garner case and the inexplicable nature of that decision have been central in the call for legislative reform of the grand jury system,” said Arthur Eisenberg, Legal Director of the NYCLU. “That legislative process would have benefitted greatly from an understanding of how and why the Garner grand jury reached the decision that it reached. It is, therefore, unfortunate that today’s decision will keep the Legislature and Governor from that understanding and impede the strong public policy favoring fully informed lawmaking.”

“No one has been held accountable for the death of Eric Garner, and New Yorkers still don’t know why,” said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU. “Our state’s criminal justice system is only as strong as New Yorkers’ faith in it. We intend to work with the legislature to end the regime of grand jury secrecy in cases where civilians lose their lives at the hands of the police. The utter lack of transparency undermines our criminal justice system.”

The court denied motions regarding release of the Garner Grand Jury proceedings from the NYCLU, the Legal Aid Society, the public advocate’s office, The New York Post and the NAACP.