As widely reported in media outlets including The New York
Times and the Wall Street Journal, Paul, Weiss, the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund and The Legal Aid Society won a major
ruling from Federal District Judge Shira Sheindlin in a lawsuit
brought against the City of New York and the New York City Housing
Authority on behalf of a putative class of NYCHA residents and
their invited guests who have been unlawfully stopped and arrested
for trespass on NYCHA property. The lawsuit challenges policies and
practices of the NYPD and NYCHA which have resulted in the
unconstitutional and racially discriminatory enforcement of
trespass laws in public housing in New York City.
In denying in large part motions for summary judgment by the
City and NYCHA on the stop and arrest claims of the named
plaintiffs, Judge Scheindlin asked whether "defendants [are] acting
within constitutional limits in their presumably sincere efforts to
provide a safe environment for the residents of public housing? Or,
in their zeal to provide that protection, are they violating the
rights of the very residents (and guests) whom they seek to
protect?" Judge Scheindlin considered that question as applied to
Roman Jackson, a named plaintiff and Bowdoin College graduate, who
was frisked and arrested for trespassing as he sat with a friend in
the stairwell of his own residence. Although Mr. Jackson explained
that he lived in the building, he and his friend were ordered up
against the wall, frisked and then arrested. Judge Scheindlin
allowed Mr. Jackson's arrest claim to go forward, holding that the
"prohibition on 'loitering' by a resident is unconstitutionally
vague."
In an editorial regarding the case on October 8, The New
York Times urged a resolution of this and related litigation
to "ensure that its policies adhere to Fourth Amendment guarantees
of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. . . In their
excessive zeal, the police are undermining respect for the law in
the very communities where residents' cooperation is most needed
and abridging the rights of people they are supposed to
protect."
Since the lawsuit was originally brought in January 2010,
trespass arrests have steeply declined. In addition, prompted in
part by this lawsuit, the Bronx District Attorney's Office earlier
this year conducted an investigation of trespass arrests made in
the Bronx and found that persons arrested for trespass were either
legitimate tenants or invited guests. As a result, the Bronx DA's
Office announced that it would no longer prosecute public housing
trespass cases unless the arresting officer appears to be
interviewed by an ADA. Nine of the original eighteen named
plaintiffs have settled with the City for awards totaling more than
$170,000.
The Paul, Weiss team includes litigation associates Katharine
Brooker, Benjamin Chapin, Agnetha
Jacob, Jacob Lillywhite, Jason
Meizlish, Matthew Moses, Angela Shannon
and James
Stanley; and litigation partners Michele Hirshman and Daniel
Leffell.