Today, a court-appointed facilitator, Ariel Belen, issued a report on community-generated reforms to New York City Police Department stop-and-frisk and trespass arrest practices that were developed as part of the Joint Remedial Process.
Two techniques for analyzing DNA evidence that were once considered cutting edge are now under fire amid questions about their reliability, and criminal defense attorneys in New York have asked a state agency to investigate the renowned lab that once used both methods. The New York City medical examiner's lab developed one of the techniques and became a leader in sophisticated DNA examinations partly because of its work identifying the remains of 9/11 victims.
The Legal Aid Society warned that New York City's unique program for helping detained immigrants going through deportation hearings will need $12 million in the next fiscal year, nearly twice as much as its current budget. Adriene Holder, the attorney in charge of the Legal Aid Society's civil practice, said the program was already taking more cases than expected toward the end of President Barack Obama's administration.