NYCLU Statement on City Council Overriding Mayor Adams’s Vetoes of the How Many Stops Act and Bill Banning Solitary Confinement in NYC  

NEW YORK CITY – Today, the New York City Council voted to override Mayor Adams’s vetoes of Int. 586-A of the How Many Stops Act (HMSA) and a bill banning solitary confinement (Int. 549-A). In response, the New York Civil Liberties Union issued the following statement, attributable to Executive Director Donna Lieberman:

“With today’s historic vote, the City Council has resoundingly rejected the inhumane practice of solitary confinement in our city jails and secured another key step in the fight for police transparency.

“For months, the Mayor and the NYPD have engaged in a campaign of misinformation and fearmongering, lying to New Yorkers about what the How Many Stops Act does, how it works, and how it would be implemented. This campaign puts another stain on an administration that has been winding back the progress our city has made to move away from hyper-aggressive policing. Today, New Yorkers and their lawmakers said enough is enough.

“The How Many Stops Act is crucial to understanding the “low-level” encounters that police have with the public at a time when stop and frisk is on the rise, reaching levels unseen in a decade. Banning the dehumanizing practice of solitary confinement will save New Yorkers’ lives. Both are common-sense bills that advance community safety.

“We applaud Council Members for displaying the leadership needed to secure these critical reforms over the Mayor’s vetoes and heavy-handed campaign of fearmongering, misinformation and arm-twisting.”