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Today, CCR announced with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that we have reached an agreement for the City to drop the appeal in our landmark stop-and-frisk class action, Floyd v. the City of New York.
In August 2013, a federal judge found that the New York Police Department (NYPD) had engaged in a widespread practice of unconstitutional and racially discriminatory stops and frisks. The court ordered the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee a collaborative, joint remedial process.
The outgoing New York City mayor and police commissioner appealed our victory this fall and temporarily stopped the reform process from moving forward. The new Mayor’s action – and his decision to accept the findings in our Floyd case about the NYPD’s unconstitutional and racially discriminatory police practices – came as a result of enormous community pressure to reform the police department.
Now we can begin the long and important work of identifying and implementing real, lasting reforms to the NYPD’s stop and frisk practices, and holding the Department accountable to ensure these reforms happen.
The joint remedial process ordered by the court in Floyd will bring together affected communities, elected officials, the police, and plaintiffs and attorneys in the case. The process ensures that communities who have been directly affected by these practices shape the future of stop and frisk for New York. The people of New York made clear at a packed event on Monday with activists, elected officials and experts that they are urgently waiting for this reform process to move forward.
We will celebrate the official dropping of the appeal in the coming weeks. For now, we are rolling up our sleeves.
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