NYCLU Applauds New York City’s Commitment to Start Stop-and-Frisk Reform Process and Drop Appeal

The New York Civil Liberties Union today applauded Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement that New York City will drop its appeal in two class-action lawsuits challenging the NYPD’s unconstitutional and discriminatory stop-and-frisk regime. The City also committed to reforming the Police Department as well as a historic community engagement process involving New Yorkers who have been subject to a decade of racial profiling.

“We understand that the culture of the largest police force in the country cannot change overnight,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “But we believe in the good will and good intention of the new administration and look forward to working together to make New York City a place where the police protect both safety and individual rights.”

The City’s announcement came in response to two companion pieces of civil rights litigation: the Center for Constitutional Rights’ landmark case Floyd v. City of New York, which found New York liable for a decade-long pattern of discriminatory and unconstitutional street stops, and the NYCLU’s Ligon v. City of New York.

Ligon, filed with The Bronx Defenders, LatinoJustice PRLDEF and Shearman & Sterling, successfully challenged the NYPD’s enforcement of Operation Clean Halls, a citywide program within the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk operation that allowed police officers to patrol in and around certain private apartment buildings.