| In Cases
Against NYPD Crackdowns on Protests
Detectives Seek to Intervene Plaintiffs
Oppose
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 19 – Amid protests in
New York City after the
killing of George Floyd, in
Mott Haven in The Bronx on
June 4, 2020 police officers
stood on top of a car and
smashed trapped people in the
head, while pepper spraying
them.
On January
14, 2021, New York State
Attorney General Letitia James
sued New York City and Mayor
Bill De Blasio, Police
Commissioner Dermot Shea and
Chief of Department Terence
Monahan, who has personally
present for the Mott Haven
beat down.
On
February 22 in in a rare
in-person proceeding in the
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York,
SDNY Chief Judge Colleen
McMahon held a proceeding.
Inner City Press covered it,
also in-person, below.
On March 3,
the Detectives Endowment
Association of New York City
has filed their motion to
interview, stating inter alia
that "We are not robots, not
widgets... We can help in this
action. We belong at this
table."
Now on March 19
the plaintiffs have opposed
the motion. They said that the
union's citation of US v.
City of Los Angeles does
not, in fact, state for the
proposition that police union
have standing. And, they say,
the Second Circuit does not
apply the 9th Circuit's
"liberal" test for
intervention.
If and when Chief
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W.
Gorenstein holds a conference
on this, Inner City Press will
report on it.
The lawyers
were spread out, with the
City's Corporation Counsel in
the jury box, and one of AG
James' lawyers in the gallery
with Inner City Press.
Judge
McMahon said she did not want
these cases to hang around,
and would put them on a
"rocket docket." She said
amended pleaders are due March
5, with motions to dismiss
three weeks after that. All
discovery must be completed by
the end of the year. There are
political and electoral
ramifications.
One of the City's
lawyers began to ask for a
stay, saying getting Civilian
Complaint Review Board
documents will not be
possible. Judge McMahon cut in
and said no, she would write
"Denied" on any such motion,
that other documents can
surely be produced.
Chief
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W.
Gorenstein will handle
discovery disputes.
In the
docket is a letter from the
Detectives Endowment
Association; Judge McMahon
surmised they may feel that
the City will not adequately
represent their interests.
Judge McMahon
said this was her first time
on the bench in her 24th floor
courtroom since a trial in
Fall 2020. She added that
there will be no more masks or
plexiglass when she next meets
the parties.
What will be the
political situation by then,
for the state Attorney General
and the Governor?
The lead case is
People of the State of New
York v. City Of New York et
al., 21-cv-322 (McMahon /
Gorenstein)
***
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