| Police Union Preliminary Injunction
to Block Complaint Release Denied But Stayed
To Mon 2 PM
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Aug 21 – Police, Fire and
other unions sued to block the
release of complaints against
their members now the New York
Civil Rights Act Section 50-a
has been repealed.
The case was
removed to Federal court by
the City. On July 28 U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Katherine Polk Failla
held a proceeding. Inner City
Press live tweeted some of it,
below.
On August
21 Judge Failla convened the
parties and amici and read her
decision. Inner City Press
tweeted only a part of it. She
denied the preliminary
injunction with one small
exception, and stayed her
decision until Monday at 2 pm.
Just after she adjourned,
someone of the call said,
"Take that, b*tches."
Here's a bit more (the Order
will go online) --
Judge Failla
says, at the outset, with
certain very limited
exceptions for information
covered by collective
bargaining agreements, I am
denying the plaintiffs' [the
police unions'] motion for a
preliminary injunctions.
Judge Failla:
....on the specific issue of
doxxing, plaintiffs have not
shown examples of doxxing with
this data. I have not found
irreparable harm.
Judge Failla:
Things that can be expunged,
under the CBAs, are different.
On these, I think it has to be
arbitrated. "Schedule A
Command Violations heard in
trial room.. that could be
subject to a request for
expungment."
As Judge Failla
continues reading her
decision, someone's Hold music
surges on. She pauses until it
is turned off.
Judge Failla is
staying her decision until
Monday at 2 pm to allow the
possibility of appeal to the
2d Circuit.
After Judge
Failla adjourns, but before
call is over, someone on the
call says, "Take that,
b*tches."
Proceeding begins
with accusation that CCRB
"conspired" with the NYCLU
because the City knew a TRO
was coming - and responded to
its FOIL request very quickly.
[Judge Failla is calling it
"NY-CLUE;" she quotes the old
saw about horseshoes and hand
grenades]
The question on
the FOIL response is whether
CCRB was acting "in concert"
with NYCLU.
Judge Failla: But
there was no court order yet.
Answer: They got info on an
expedited basis, for the City
to evade its legal obligation
to keep this information
confidential.
CCRB responded to
71 FOIL request - all in a
matter of days, Judge Failla
is told.
Anthony Coles of
DLA Piper: The City and NYCLU
were working in concert to
reveal information protected
by collective bargaining and
the Constitution.
Currently stayed:
publication of these CCRB
records. If and when they are
released, will be text
searchable.
Since July 15 -
since the TRO? - NYCLU has
received a "dictionary" from
the CCRB
Judge Failla:
I've learned from no less than
Judge Hand that I cannot
enjoin the world at large. But
I can enjoin a party acting in
concert, here, with NYC. I
can't reach back in time. Were
they acting in concert to
violate an existing court
order? Not at the time
Judge
Failla: This lawsuit could
have been filed on July 12 and
we'd be focusing on prior
restraint. I am modifying my
order to remove the injunctive
relief I imposed on NYCLU - I
am staying it for 24 hours, if
Mr Coles goes to 2d Circuit
Sounds like
the CCRB records can and will
be published in 24 hours
unless Coles goes to 2d
Circuit and gets a stay. Tick
tock
Back on July 22:
Judge Failla: If I call 3-1-1
tomorrow and complain against
a police officer, that's not
being disclosed, right?
Answer: Right. Or, there's a
distinction between NYPD and
CCRB.
Judge Failla: And
on CCRB? Answer: They've
released officer
histories. Judge Failla:
And Corrections Officers?
Answer: The Dep't
of Corrections will create a
website limited to
substantiated allegations.
The unions are
being represented by Anthony
Coles of DLA Piper. He: I am
startled CCRB released records
of 81,000 officers
Coles: We need
discovery on how those CCRB
disclosures were made. We
propose expedited document
production. What are they
planning to produce? What's
been said here is different
that what the Mayor has said
in press conference, that he's
releasing everything
Now Rebecca Quinn
of NYC Corporation Counsel
says that collective
bargaining agreement allows
officers to seek to expunge
unsubstantiated complaints
from the personnel files - not
necessarily the OATH website
(which Coles referred to as
"dusty")
Coles says,
NYPD promoting unsubstantiated
allegations on the Internet
will stigmatic the officers.
Asks that it be enjoined
pending arbitration under the
Collective Bargaining
Agreement(s).
Coles said it is
suspicious that a July 9 FOIL
request for the 81,000
officers' records was
fulfilled on July
14.
The case is
Uniformed Fire Officers
Association et al. v. DeBlasio
et al., 20-cv-5441 (Failla)
***
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