The Legal Aid Society filed this class action lawsuit to challenge the NYPD’s policy of handcuffing every person accused of a crime throughout their arraignment, the first proceeding in a criminal case where a person faces a judge to determine whether they will be released or jailed pending trial. The lawsuit contends that the NYPD’s arraignment handcuffing policy violates the due process clause of the New York Constitution because judges, not the NYPD, must make an individualized determination that handcuffing is necessary before a person can be handcuffed during a criminal proceeding.

In July 2025, the New York Supreme Court denied Legal Aid’s motion for summary judgment and granted the City’s motion to dismiss. The court ruled that Mr. Allen’s case as pled and filed (while awaiting arraignment) was not ripe because no harm had yet occurred, and therefore he did not have standing to sue. The court further ruled that even if it did reach the merits of Mr. Allen’s claim that NYPD’s policy violates the due process guarantee in the New York constitution, it would dismiss for failure to state a claim because precedent indicates that visible restraints are only forbidden at fact-finding proceedings in a criminal case, and it held that an arraignment is not a fact-finding proceeding. We filed a notice of appeal on August 1, 2025.