NYCLU News Feed

NYCLU: NYPD Secrecy Around Racial Profiling Must End

skemmis — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:55:34 -0700

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New York City today embraced government secrecy and announced it would appeal a court-order that the NYPD disclose its electronic database detailing police stops of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, most of whom were black and Latino. The New York Civil Liberties Union sued the NYPD to get access to the database and won the case in State Supreme Court in May.

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July 10, 2008

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“The NYPD is acting like an ornery child, plugging its fingers in its ears and refusing to listen to the fair and impartial ruling of the judiciary,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “Our justice system has already rejected this pattern of withholding information from the public, and I have full confidence it will do so again. New Yorkers have a right to know if the NYPD is engaging in racial profiling.”

Last summer, the NYCLU served the NYPD with a formal legal request to turn over the database under the state’s Freedom of Information Law. The department rejected the request at the end of August and denied the NYCLU’s administrative appeal on October 15. In November, the NYCLU filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court challenging the NYPD’s refusal to disclose its database. On May 30, the NYCLU won that case.

The NYCLU requested the information to allow for an independent analysis of the Department’s stop-and-frisk practices, which have been the subject of enormous controversy since the 1999 shooting death of Amadou Diallo. According to printed reports released this spring, New York City police officers stopped more people on the streets during the first three months of 2008 than during any quarter in the six years the Department has reported the data.

Printed reports also show that in 2007, the NYPD stopped about 469,000 New Yorkers – almost 1,300 people every day. Eighty-eight percent were completely innocent. Though they make up only a quarter of the City’s population, more than half of those stopped were black. Another 30 percent were Latino. Though whites make up more than 35 percent of New York City’s population, they were only 11 percent of those stopped. In 2006 and 2007, blacks and Latinos were the target of about 90 percent of the nearly one million stop-and-frisk encounters.
While the printed reports released by the department provide important information, any sophisticated analysis of the role of race in police stops requires access to the database.

“Every year hundreds of thousands of innocent New Yorkers are stopped, searched and interrogated by the police for doing nothing more than walking down the street,” said NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn, the lead counsel on the case. “The NYPD has given information about these stops to organizations in California and Michigan. Now it is time for the Department to be held accountable to New Yorkers.”

Supporting the NYCLU’s lawsuit with friend of the court briefs were a group of 21 academics from across the country, the New York City Bar Association and The New York Times.

Serving as co-counsel on the case are Rebecca Bers, Meredith Laitner and Samantha Marks, students from New York University Law School’s Civil Rights Clinic, and Professor Claudia Angelos, who teaches in the clinic.

NYCLU Analysis of NYPD Reports Reveals Troubling Patterns in Police Shootings, Lack of Diversity in NYPD Leadership

jcarnig — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:09:47 -0700

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May 5, 2008

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The New York Civil Liberties Union today released an analysis of recently obtained NYPD reports that raise serious questions about police shooting practices and about the lack of racial diversity in the NYPD’s leadership. The highlights of the analysis, which was included in testimony delivered today to the City Council this morning, are:

During the last two years the NYPD reported the race of those shot by police, nearly 90 percent of the people shot at by officers were black or Latino. In 1998 the Department stopped reporting the race of civilian targets and started reporting the breed of dogs being shot.
The NYPD command structure remains almost entirely white. At the end of 2002, 85.3 percent of the 735 members of the NYPD at or above the rank of captain were white males, with blacks holding only 3.9 percent of those positions. At the end of 2007, after five years of a large number of retirements and promotions, 84.3 percent of leadership positions were held by white males, with the numbers of blacks actually shrinking to 3.7 percent.
In 77 percent of the incidents where officers fired their weapons at civilians between 1999 and 2006, the officers were the only ones shooting, with officers often shooting at unarmed civilians (like Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo).
In 2006 (the most recent year for which there is information), police officers fired an average of five shots per incident when they were the only ones shooting, which is the highest number for the entire eight years for which these figures have been reported.

The NYCLU’s analysis was delivered this morning at a Public Safety Committee hearing about a bill that would require the NYPD to provide detailed reports about shooting incidents, including the race of civilians shot at by the police. The NYPD opposed the bill.

“These numbers scream out for serious review by the City Council,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “As with the hundreds of thousands of stops and frisks and the hundreds of thousands of marijuana arrests, being black should not make people a target for a police shooting.”

“In the aftermath of the Sean Bell verdict, it is particularly important that there be full disclosure about every aspect of NYPD shootings, including the role that race may be playing,” said NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn, who delivered this morning’s testimony. “We are deeply concerned about the figures showing that virtually everyone shot at by the police is black or Latino. Equally troubling is the fact that the NYPD leadership remains almost entirely white, with only a tiny number of black supervisors. The NYPD will never shake concerns about racial insensitivity unless it becomes more diverse at the top.”

NYCLU Announces Freedom in Expression Winners

skemmis — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:48:32 -0700

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<table align = "left" style="margin:0px 12px 12px 0px"><tr><td style="font-size:.9em"><a href = "/node/1903" target="_blank"><img src = "/files/Kaitlin-Noble_firstPlace_xsm.jpg" ></a></tr></td></table> The New York Civil Liberties Union today announced the winners of its fifth-annual Freedom in Expression contest, which invited young people in New York City to lend their voices and creativity to the struggle for social justice. The annual contest, funded by a grant from the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, asks youth to explore a topic relevant to their lives and related to civil rights and liberties. This year, young people were invited to reflect and comment on justice in America – in school, on the street and in society at large. Entries covered a wide range of issues, including the School to Prison Pipeline, racial profiling, the Rockefeller Drug Laws and the treatment of prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay.

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July 23, 2008

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The New York Civil Liberties Union today announced the winners of its fifth-annual Freedom in Expression contest, which invited young people in New York City to lend their voices and creativity to the struggle for social justice.

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Visual Art winner Kaitlin Noble's The Oreo Effect

The annual contest, funded by a grant from the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, asks youth to explore a topic relevant to their lives and related to civil rights and liberties. This year, young people were invited to reflect and comment on justice in America – in school, on the street and in society at large. Entries covered a wide range of issues, including the School to Prison Pipeline, racial profiling, the Rockefeller Drug Laws and the treatment of prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay.

The awards were presented to contest winners Monday night at the NYCLU's annual Broadway Stands Up for Freedom benefit. Dozens of Broadway's finest - including musical director Seth Rudetsky and leading actors from Jersey Boys, Wicked, the original cast of Rent, Spring Awakening, Spelling Bee, Les Miz and the entire cast of Godspell - took to the stage to salute the students and the work of the NYCLU.

More students submitted entries than any other year in the contest’s history. The submissions were judged in six categories: essays, poetry, audio recordings, visual arts, journalism, and for the first time, documentary films and Web-based projects.

“To see so many young people express a passionate commitment to social justice is inspiring,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “Each of these winners tackled complex issues with intelligence, clarity and conviction. The NYCLU is proud to have been a vehicle for their talent and creativity.”

The contest was open to New York City youth 19 years old and younger. First prize winners in each category received $1,000; second prize received $500.

Winners

Essay:

1st Place - $1,000 – Marina Reza, Taking Oath Citizenship, Perjury
11th Grade, Woodside NY, The Nightingale-Bamford School.

2nd Place – Tie, $250 to each – Fatima Peterson, Untitled
9th Grade, Brooklyn NY, Institute for Collaborative Education
Trevlond Myrie, Untitled
12th Grade, Brooklyn NY, Brooklyn College Academy

Poetry:

1st Place - $1,000 – George Rosa, Colorblind
9th Grade, Long Island City, NY, Academy of American Studies

2nd Place - $500 – Keith James Alexander, If it makes me cocky, then so be it
El Puente Leadership Center, Brooklyn NY

Honorable Mention – Tamara Maria Belopopsky, Guantanamo Number 053
12th Grade, Manhattan, LaGuardia HS of the Arts

Visual Arts:

1st Place - $1,000 – Kaitlin Noble, The Oreo Effect
10th Grade, Bronx NY, Art and Design High School

2nd Place - $500 – Stefan Dezil, Untitled: Locker
Incoming Freshman, Carnegie Mellon University

Honorable Mention – Class Collaboration, 11th & 12th Grade. Digital Mural, We The People: Bronx Youth Speak, Bronx HS of the Visual Arts Design, Bronx NY

Journalism:

1st Place for second year in a row - $1,000: High School for Law and Public Service, The Advocate, produced by journalism students, first color edition, Washington Heights NY

Documentary Filmmaking:

1st Place - $1,000: Natasha Z. Stanislas, America the Beautiful
12th Grade, High School for American Studies, Bronx NY

New Media:

1st Place - $1,000 – Lucy Hollier, The Worst Punishment
9th Grade, Brooklyn NY, Institute for Collaborative Education

Honorable Mention: Andrè Greene, I love him, he loves me: we want to be a big happy family, 9th Grade, Brooklyn NY, Institute for Collaborative Education

Winners of Youth Speak Out for Freedom Award
The winning entries were read aloud by Broadway performers Monday evening during Broadway Stands Up for Freedom, an annual concert benefiting the NYCLU’s youth programs.

Cynthia Delaney – Jenny Gone Jake
11th Grade, Fiorello H. LaGuarida HS of the Performing Arts

Thu Huynh – I Want Freedom
10th Grade, Townsend Harris High School

Pleshette V. Carr – Elimination
College Freshman, St. Francis College

Broadway Stands Up for Freedom and Tony Kushner Salutes the NYCLU

jcarnig — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:02:53 -0700

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The sixth annual Broadway Stands Up for Freedom concert was a smashing, sold-out success. Dozens of Broadway's finest - including musical director Seth Rudetsky and leading actors from Jersey Boys, Wicked, the original cast of Rent, Spring Awakening, Spelling Bee, Les Miz and the entire cast of Godspell - took to the stage to salute the work of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "The NYCLU shares ... a determined faith in the future, predicated not on metaphysics but on the magnificent curiosity, vitality, generosity, generativity and decency of human community," said honorary chair Tony Kushner. "Without which, there would be no audience for theater, nor any necessity to keep our civil liberties alive, to make sure we don’t forget Abraham Lincoln’s admonition: 'A government had better go to the very extreme of toleration than to do aught that could be construed into an interference with, or to jeopardize in any degree, the common rights of its citizens.'"

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July 22, 2008

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Though honorary chair Tony Kushner was called away at the last minute because of a family emergency, he still managed to bring the house down with a message read by Kathleen Chalfant, who starred in Kushner's Angels in America:

Dear NYCLUers,

I apologize profusely for my absence. A family emergency has kept me away. Alright, really I stayed home to watch Project Runway. No, no, it’s an emergency, of course it is, what else could keep me away from this night, from this super way to support the NYCLU? Nothing else could. Not even Project Runway.

If I had managed to come, I would have done my usual thing, cheap jokes about the always funny-in-a-not-funny-way Bush administration, mixed with froth-at-the-mouth apoplectic indignation over the ten zillion really appalling, terrifying things that happened this year that we all know about and are all shocked, stunned, staggered by or we wouldn’t be here, supporting the NYCLU, and thank you for doing that, by the way. So pretend that I’ve done what I usually do, and while you’re at it you could also pretend that I was brilliant and hysterical and the best thing you’ve seen onstage all year, go on, pretend, why not, it won’t cost you anything.

When you’re done pretending, you’ll be entertained by this year’s gathering of prodigious theatrical talent, every one of them a bonafide shining star in the heavenly firmament! You should know that among these glorious performers, entertainers and actors, all of whom have donated their time and talent because, like you and me, they’re totally freaked out about the ten zillion appalling, terrifying things that happened this year and like you and me they believe the NYCLU is one of the few bulwarks remaining, and a very fine bulwark it is, against madness, chaos, apocalypse and the kind of people who believe the telecommunications giants deserve immunity from prosecution.

You should know that among them these fabulous, fabulous performers have won 15 Tony Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, 11 Outer Critics Circle Awards, five Emmys, three Oscars, four Pulitzers, a Nobel Prize and oh never mind I made all that up. But they’re a swell bunch of kids, really, and probably they’ve won many many impressive awards and prizes, I don’t really know how many or what kind because I don’t know who’s showed up this year because, well, I didn’t.

Apologies again.

But how great, and of course how appropriate, that people who work in theater come out to make it possible for people who ensure the continued existence of our civil liberties to do their work. Donna Lieberman asked me when I started doing this to talk about what makes this connection appropriate. I’ve suggested it has to do with a shared understanding of the tireless work it takes to make both art and a decent world, which is itself a work of art; I’ve suggested it has to do with a common capacity for going forth into the world with joy rather than fear. Maybe this year I’ll suggest that what we share, theater people and the committed civil libertarians of the NYCLU, is hope.

Everyone who’s ever worked in theater knows how absolutely predicated on hope the rickety, looney enterprise always is, and how little encouragement hope receives along the way, and how seldom, in fact, our fondest hopes are realized, and yet also how essential theater is to life, and hence how essential hope is to life. The NYCLU shares a faith of a similar kind: A determined faith in the future, predicated not on metaphysics but on the magnificent curiosity, vitality, generosity, generativity and decency of human community. Without which, there would be no audience for theater, nor any necessity to keep our civil liberties alive, to make sure we don’t forget Abraham Lincoln’s admonition: “A government had better go to the very extreme of toleration than to do aught that could be construed into an interference with, or to jeopardize in any degree, the common rights of its citizens.”

Have a wonderful wonderful night, it breaks my heart that I’m not there. Thanks again for supporting the NYCLU and the hope-inspiring soul-enlivening nation-and-world-saving work it does.

-- Tony K

NYCLU: Draft Bush Regulations Undermine State Law and Jeopardize Women’s Health

jcarnig — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:58:19 -0700

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The New York Civil Liberties Union today expressed its outrage at draft regulations proposed by the Bush administration that could jeopardize access to basic health care services for millions of women in New York and across the country. The draft regulations, which apply to several laws governing the use of federal funds by states and health care facilities, limit access to birth control and deliberately confuse the definition of contraception and abortion.

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July 16, 2008

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As currently drafted, the regulations could:

Allow federally funded health care professionals and institutions to refuse reproductive health services, including common forms of birth control.
Undermine existing New York laws that protect women’s access to birth control.
Compel women’s health clinics in New York to hire individuals unwilling to provide basic health services.

The draft regulations would seriously undermine state laws that broaden women’s access to contraception. New York was among the first states in the nation to enact a law requiring hospitals to offer emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. It also was among the first to pass a law, recently upheld by New York’s highest court, ensuring that employer insurance plans cover contraceptives.

“President Bush and other conservatives talk a big game about their commitment to federalism and states’ rights, yet they would happily issue regulations that in effect nullify important New York laws to satisfy their political agenda,” said Lieberman. “It is hypocrisy on a grand scale.”

Research shows that up to 98 percent of sexually active women aged 15–44 have used contraception.

“Once again, the Bush administration shows it is completely out of step with the lives and views of the majority of Americans,” said Galen Sherwin, director of the NYCLU Reproductive Rights Project. “It is deeply troubling that the president is seeking to create a loophole allowing health care providers to deny women access to this basic form of health care.”

Video Game Bill Violates First Amendment Rights of Producers, Retailers and Customers

jcarnig — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:53:22 -0700

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The New York Civil Liberties Union and the National Coalition Against Censorship today urged Gov. David Paterson to veto legislation that would establish a state system for regulating the sale and content of video games. “New Yorkers do not need the state judging which video games are appropriate and which aren’t,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “Parents, not government committees, should be responsible for making those judgments. If the legislature wants to reduce youth violence, it should fund educational programs to teach students conflict resolution skills.”

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July 21, 2008

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“New Yorkers do not need the state judging which video games are appropriate and which aren’t,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “Parents, not government committees, should be responsible for making those judgments. If the legislature wants to reduce youth violence, it should fund educational programs to teach students conflict resolution skills.”

In a letter sent to Gov. Paterson, the NYCLU and NCAC explain that the bill would directly involve the state in regulating constitutionally protected content in violation of the First Amendment.

If signed, the bill would bar retailers from selling or renting any video game unless its rating is prominently displayed on the game’s cover. Additionally, the bill would establish a state “advisory council” to review the video game industry’s existing voluntary ratings system for accuracy and effectiveness in identifying violent content. The bill also would require all video game consoles sold in New York to have technology allowing parents to block video games that depict certain vaguely described content.

Read together, these provisions would create a state system regulating how video games are sold and played based on content that the First Amendment protects from regulation.

“State appointed officials would review the standards by which the industry establishes video game ratings, and the state would then require these ratings to be placed on packaging as a condition of sale. The bill clearly creates a regulatory scheme that would infringe on the free speech rights of video game creators, retailers and their customers,” said Robert Perry, NYCLU legislative director. “It is our hope that the governor will stand up for the First Amendment and reject this bill.”

The advocates’ letter states that the proposed legislation is a thinly veiled effort to restrict the sale and purchase of video games that depict violence, based on the notion that viewing violent images leads to violent conduct. Both scientific research and judicial rulings have thoroughly debunked this theory.

A recent study published by the directors of the Harvard Medical School Center for Public Health and Media concludes there is little evidence to indicate that playing violent video games causes violent behavior; most research that suggests otherwise, the authors write, is based on scanty evidence, inaccurate assumptions and pseudoscience.

Most video game publishers already voluntarily submit their games for rating to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. Courts in jurisdiction throughout the country have ruled that states cannot require retailers to post labels on video games because such requirements constitute government-compelled speech.

“The entertainment industry’s current rating system for video games already helps parents make informed decisions,” said Joan Bertin, NCAC executive director. “The system cannot become subject to the government’s editorial oversight without violating the First Amendment.”

Working with NYCLU, NYC Issues New Film Rules Respecting First Amendment Rights of Photographers and Filmmakers

skemmis — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:16:21 -0700

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<table align = "left" style="margin:5px 12px 10px 0px" width = 100 cellpadding=10 cellspacing = 10 ><tr><td><a href = "/node/1896"><img src = "/files/filming_th.omas_feature2.jpg" align = "right" style="margin:5px 5px 5px 0px"></a></tr></td><tr><td style="font-size:0.85em; line-height:0.95em"><em> Photo from Flickr user th.omas</em></tr></td></table>Responding to public pressure and a lawsuit by the New York Civil Liberties Union, New York City today issued rules that respect the constitutional right to photograph and film on sidewalks and other public places. Under the new rules, which the City negotiated with the NYCLU, anyone with a handheld camera or a tripod is free to film on city sidewalks for as long as they please without a permit so long as they don’t establish a physical perimeter around or direct passersby away from more than half of a sidewalk, according to rules released by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcast.

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July 14, 2008

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Responding to public pressure and a lawsuit by the New York Civil Liberties Union, New York City today issued rules that respect the constitutional right to photograph and film on sidewalks and other public places.

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Under the new rules, which the City negotiated with the NYCLU, anyone with a handheld camera or a tripod is free to film on city sidewalks for as long as they please without a permit so long as they don’t establish a physical perimeter around or direct passersby away from more than half of a sidewalk, according to rules released by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcast. The rules expressly state that photographers and filmmakers who are simply standing on City sidewalks with cameras and tripods need no permit and no insurance. The rules also expressly state that no permit is required for photography and filming of parades, rallies, protests and demonstrations

Photo from Flickr user th.omas under
Creative Commons License.

In May 2007, MOFTB proposed rules that would have required permits and $1 million of insurance for anyone who spent 30 minutes photographing or filming in a single location. The NYCLU and scores of filmmakers and photographers opposed the proposal, which would have restricted a wide range of casual photography and filmmaking. As a result of the outcry, MOFTB rescinded the proposal in August and worked with the NYCLU to draft the rules issued today.

“We are glad the City stepped up and agreed to issue rules that respect New Yorkers’ First Amendment rights,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “Now the NYPD needs to get its act together and stop hassling photographers and filmmakers.”

The NYPD has a history of harassing photographers and violating their First Amendment rights, and the NYCLU has filed two lawsuits recently in an attempt to force the Department to adopt policies and trainings so that officers will understand and respect the constitutionally-protected rights of photographers and filmmakers.

Still photographers and filmmakers whose work does not require a permit but are afraid of police harassment may apply for a free “optional permit,” an official document they can present if stopped and questioned by a police officer that explains they are engaged in legal activity. The optional permit does not require insurance.

NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn worked with MOFTB to write the rules, and pushed for the inclusion of an optional permit in response to photographer and filmmaker requests for one.

“The issuance of these new rules provides an important opportunity for the NYPD to train its officers to understand and respect the First Amendment rights of photographers,”Dunn said. “Photography and filmmaking has a long and distinguished history in New York City, and the NYPD needs to recognize that this activity is not a threat to public safety.”

New York City previously had no written rules governing the issuance of film and photo permits, which resulted in certain photographers and filmmakers being denied the right to take photos and make films. The City agreed to adopt written rules and to narrow its permit scheme after the NYCLU filed a federal lawsuit challenging the MOFTB’s permit practices.

Broadway Stands Up for Freedom!

skemmis — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:58:29 -0700

Date and Time: July 21, 2008 / 7:30 Eastern

A Concert to Benefit the Youth Programs of the NYCLU

NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 LaGuardia Place (Washington Square South)
NY, NY 10012

Monday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Honorary Chairs:
Tony Kushner
and
Stephen Sondheim

Chair, Michael David, Barbara Whitman

Featuring:

Tony Award Nominees and Stars:

Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent, Les Mis)

Daphne Rubin-Vega at the 2007 performance

Check out last year's performance here

Daniel Sunjata (Take Me Out, Rescue Me)

Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels in America)

John Gallagher (Spring Awakening)

Cheyenne Jackson (Xanadu, All Shook Up)

Celia Keenan-Bolger (Les Mis, Spelling Bee)

Anthony Rapp (Rent)

Gavin Creel (Godspell)

Julia Murney (Wicked)

Darius de Haas (Marie Christine)

Todd Buonopane (Spelling Bee)

Erich Bergen (Jersey Boys National Tour)

Dana Steingold (Godspell, Spelling Bee)

The Cast of Godspell

The Cast of Jersey Boys

And Founding Performer Liana Stampur with Clinton Curtis

MORE EXCITING PERFORMERS TO BE ANNOUNCED

* Performers subject to change

Musical Director: Seth Rudetsky
Director: Jen Bender
Artistic Consultant: Daniel Goldstein

To purchase tickets, click here.

To purchase Sponsorship Packages starting at $250 please click here.

Advocates: Autopsy Does Not Answer All the Questions Around Kings County Hospital Death

jcarnig — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:17:37 -0700

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A medical examiner’s report put out late Friday evening on Esmin Green, the 49-year-old Brooklyn woman who died neglected last month on the floor of Kings County Hospital’s psychiatric emergency room, raises more questions than it answers, said advocates who filed a major civil rights lawsuit against the hospital last year. “Needless to say, the family will be entitled to a truly independent autopsy that will take into consideration all of the factors related to her death, including that she appeared to have been heavily sedated and immobile for 24 hours,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

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July 11, 2008

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“Needless to say, the family will be entitled to a truly independent autopsy that will take into consideration all of the factors related to her death, including that she appeared to have been heavily sedated and immobile for 24 hours,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Nothing in the autopsy undoes the fact that she was forced to wait in the emergency room for nearly a day without the medical care she so desperately needed; that she was ignored by multiple hospital employees as she lay dying on the ground for an hour; and that her medical records indicate she was ‘sitting quietly’ more than 10 minutes after her last desperate move on the floor.”

Green died in the early morning on June 19. Disturbing security videos show three employees ignoring the woman’s convulsing body, walking past her as she lay face down and dying for more than an hour. Further, hospital medical records misrepresent her condition in a way that suggests they have been altered or not maintained with the integrity the law requires.

The hospital is the subject of a lawsuit filed in May 2007 by the NYCLU, Mental Hygiene Legal Service, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. The lawsuit describes the hospital’s psychiatric emergency room and inpatient unit as “a chamber of filth, decay, indifference and danger,” and seeks an end to abusive treatment in the hospital’s psychiatric facilities where patients are regularly ignored and those that dare advocate for themselves are punished with forcible injections of psychotropic drugs.

Advocates Warn that Kings County Hospital Problems Remain Severe

jcarnig — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:56:52 -0700

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The lawsuit and call for a criminal investigation announced today by the family of Esmin Green have been expected given the 49-year-old Brooklyn woman’s shameful death last month on the floor of Kings County Hospital’s psychiatric emergency room, said advocates who filed a major civil rights lawsuit against the hospital last year. They also renewed their call for an overhaul of the entire hospital system, and warned that scapegoating low-level hospital employees does not ensure an end to an ingrained culture of abuse.

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July 8, 2008

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“The crass indifference displayed by hospital personnel and the abysmal lack of care and treatment Ms. Green received in the last hours of her life are an affront to human dignity,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “But also shocking is that there are thousands of New Yorkers who have been, and are still, subject to deplorable treatment at Kings County Hospital’s psychiatric facilities. We are committed to transforming the tragedy of Ms. Green’s death into a catalyst for long overdue reform.”

The hospital is the subject of a lawsuit filed in May 2007 by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Mental Hygiene Legal Service, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. The lawsuit describes the hospital’s psychiatric emergency room and inpatient unit as “a chamber of filth, decay, indifference and danger,” and seeks an end to abusive treatment in the hospital’s psychiatric facilities where patients are regularly ignored and those that dare advocate for themselves are punished with forcible injections of psychotropic drugs.

“It is a culture of indifference that extends from the lowest level employees to the highest levels of the Health and Hospitals Corporation that contributed to Ms. Green’s death,” said Rob Cohen, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis. “We fully support efforts to punish those individuals who were directly involved. Our mission, though, is far broader. We are seeking fundamental change to the system at Kings County Hospital that allowed Esmin Green to die.”

After more than a year of litigation and the death of the Brooklyn woman, New York City finally agreed in court last week to a series of stop gap measures at the hospital intended to prevent another death. Among those measures are:

That every patient be checked every 15 minutes.
That there be no more than 25 patients at any time in the psychiatric emergency ward.
That detailed records on the ward be turned over every week to the advocates involved in the lawsuit.
And that the advocates be active participants in the search for a new deputy executive director and emergency room director for Kings County Hospital’s Behavioral Health department.

“We will be watching the city carefully this next week to see if the hospital is complying with the order of the court,” said Dennis Feld, the deputy director of special litigation and appeals with Mental Hygiene Legal Service, the on-the-ground advocate for patients in the system. “Given Kings County Hospital’s track record, it’s hard to see that they will comply. But we hope they will and we will be ready to respond no matter what.”

The city has yet to address larger issues, including environment of care, abuse and restraint at the hands of staff (including hospital police) and discharge planning.

“As Kings County Hospital prepares to move into a new facility in the next few months, the city has a unique opportunity to leave behind not only the old space, but also the old disastrous culture of abuse and neglect that permeated the psychiatric facilities,” said Beth Haroules, the NYCLU’s lead counsel on the case. “Our hope is that they do just that.”

NYCLU News Feed

NYCLU: NYPD Secrecy Around Racial Profiling Must End

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NYCLU Analysis of NYPD Reports Reveals Troubling Patterns in Police Shootings, Lack of Diversity in NYPD Leadership

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NYCLU Announces Freedom in Expression Winners

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Broadway Stands Up for Freedom and Tony Kushner Salutes the NYCLU

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NYCLU: Draft Bush Regulations Undermine State Law and Jeopardize Women’s Health

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Video Game Bill Violates First Amendment Rights of Producers, Retailers and Customers

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Working with NYCLU, NYC Issues New Film Rules Respecting First Amendment Rights of Photographers and Filmmakers

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Broadway Stands Up for Freedom!

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Advocates: Autopsy Does Not Answer All the Questions Around Kings County Hospital Death

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Advocates Warn that Kings County Hospital Problems Remain Severe

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