Court Blocks Stop-and-Frisk Changes for New York Police

A federal appeals court on Thursday halted a sweeping set of changes to the New York Police Department’s practice of stopping and frisking people on the street, and, in strikingly personal terms, criticized the trial judge’s conduct and removed her from the case.

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the judge, Shira A. Scheindlin, “ran afoul” of the judiciary’s code of conduct by compromising the “appearance of impartiality surrounding this litigation.” The panel criticized how she had steered the lawsuit to her courtroom when it was filed nearly six years ago.

The ruling effectively puts off a battery of changes that Judge Scheindlin, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, had ordered for the Police Department. It postpones the operations of the monitor who was asked to oversee reforms of the stop-and-frisk practices, which Judge Scheindlin had said violated the constitutional rights of minorities.

Bloomberg is enormously influential because of his ownership of a major media organization - journalists who harbor any desire to one day work for Bloomberg, who pays very well, learn to keep their mouths shut. No major media outlet challenged his factual statement - that racial profiling during stop-and-frisk was fine, since blacks and Hispanics commit the majority of crimes in NYC - by asking for his resignation. As a multi-billionaire, he's probably met everyone worth knowing in political and judicial circles. This public humiliation of far left Federal Judge Scheindlin shows that while not omnipotent, Bloomberg is a power to be reckoned with.

Overheard on the interwebs:

Rightwinger A:
Judge Scheindlin in a meaningful way, challenged the power of the police state - this is a rare thing in today’s fear inspired culture. Her decision was not politically popular in NYC. The three judge panel made a political decision - period. Her non-decision actions gave them an opening and they took it.

No one who has read the Bill of Rights can disagree with the original ruling.

Rightwinger B:

Ok, yeah whatever. Some don't live in the real world as it is not as they wish it were to be.

Each Oct 31, for a good scare, I dont watch dracula or frankenstein films.

I like my scare on a realistic side. A reminder of what the world could actually become if we're not careful and vigilant.

And so I watch Charles Bronson in Death Wish. Set in NY in 1974, this is a REMINDER of WHAT exactly things could become IF we allow uppity judges and politicians to allow our safety to degenerate into utter and total chaos.

For true liberty to exist FIRST there must exist safety which means in the real world of which we live in that we can walk in pubic places without a heightened threat of getting killed.

Apparently Mayor Bloomberg has watched Death Wish or at heart he understands the vitalness of continuing an important policy of making sure that people don't get robbed, raped, or murdered in open plain view.

You have a nice day.

Rightwinger B missed the very obvious point that in Death Wish, it was a disarmed citizen who was victimized, and once arming himself, was able to walk the night safely again. Rather than being a good justification for compromising personal liberties in exchange for safety, it’s a great example of why that trade off isn’t always necessary.

The more liberty we have, the better we can defend ourselves, and the less need we have for the government to step in, and step on our liberties as they inevitably do.

It also glossed over the 3-1/2 year minimum prison term for illegal gun possession and the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to defend against gun charges. Here's what happens in real life to New Yorkers who carry guns for their own protection, without the impossible to obtain carry permit:

On December 23, 2008, a search of Burress' New Jersey home by the Totowa, New Jersey Police, the New York Police Department and investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney turned up a 9 mm handgun, a rifle, ammunition and the clothing believed to have been worn by Burress on the night of his accidental shooting.^[33] On June 12, 2009 Burress's attorney Benjamin Brafman announced that he had been unable to reach a sentencing agreement.^[34]
Burress asked a Manhattan grand jury for sympathy during two hours of testimony on July 29, 2009.^[35] On Monday, August 3, 2009, prosecutors announced that Burress had been indicted^[36] by the grand jury on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and a single count of reckless endangerment in the second degree, both felonies.^[37]^[38]
On August 20, 2009, Burress accepted a plea deal that would put him in prison for two years with an additional two years of supervised release.^[36] His sentencing was held on September 22, 2009. Burress hired a prison consultant to advise him on what to expect while in prison.^[39] In January 2010, Burress applied for and was denied a work release from prison.^[40] On June 6, 2011, Burress was released from a protective custody unit of the Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome, New York.^[41]^[42]

I know someone who had an illegal gun (i.e. no carry permit), and used it to scare off a thug who tried to mug him. The would-be mugger reported him to the police, who frisked him and found the illegal gun. He spent tens of thousands of dollars staying out of prison - money that he had saved for years to start his own business. And he was lucky, unlike Plaxico Burress.

New York already has big government. It doesn't need anarchy added to its list of negatives. Given that (1) the gun laws are oppressive, (2) the majority supports those laws and (3) law-abiding people in NYC don't carry illegal guns, stop-and-frisk is a logical policy in crime-ridden areas. It would be nice to have zero gun control in NYC, but that's not in the cards, so this is making the best of a bad hand.

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the judge, Shira A. Scheindlin, “ran afoul” of the judiciary’s code of conduct by compromising the “appearance of impartiality surrounding this litigation.” The panel criticized how she had steered the lawsuit to her courtroom when it was filed nearly six years ago. The ruling effectively puts off a battery of changes that Judge Scheindlin, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, had ordered for the Police Department. It postpones the operations of the monitor who was asked to oversee reforms of the stop-and-frisk practices, which Judge Scheindlin had said violated the constitutional rights of minorities.

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