09 Jan 2013
A few months ago, we posted a story where a teenager was verbally and physically harassed, then arrested, by three NYPD officers under the guise of their incredibly controversial “Stop and Frisk” policy. Now, thanks to the Manhattan Federal Court, key parts of that policy have been deemed unconstitutional under a ruling by Judge Shira Scheindlin.
Scheindlin has ordered police to refrain from making trespass stops outside of private residential buildings, despite police given permission by landlords through the “Clean Halls” program, explaining in a 157 page ruling that states, ”While it may be difficult to say when precisely to draw the line between constitutional and unconstitutional police encounters such a line exists, and the NYPD has systematically crossed it when making trespass stops outside buildings.”
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly stands by the policy, stating that “Clean Halls” and “Stop and Frisk” is a vital crimefighting tool, especially in less prosperous areas.
In addition to immediately stopping trespass stops under the “Clean Halls” program, Scheindlin has also ordered a hearing on January 31st to determine what other relief should be granted to the policy, writing, “For those of us who do not fear being stopped as we approach or leave our own homes or those of our friends and family, it is difficult to believe that residents of one of our boroughs live under such a threat.”
It’s yet a long way to go in getting rid of this policy, which many say is simply a means for racial profiling, but one thing is certain: if level-headed federal judges such as Scheindlin continue to hear cases such as the one that prompted this one, practices like this will hopefully be seen for what they really are.
