| Cases
Against NYPD Crackdowns on Protests Put on
Rocket Docket in SDNY With No Stay
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Feb 22 – 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.
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 and
another journalist.
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)
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2021 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
