The Legal Aid Society filed this class action lawsuit brought on behalf of women of color, many of whom are transgender, who were wrongly arrested under New York’s loitering for prostitution law. The lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of New York Penal Law Section 240.37, Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense, adopted in 1976 and under which NYPD officers discriminately targeted and arrested women engaged in wholly innocent conduct. In April 2019, the Southern District of New York approved a settlement award of monetary damages for our clients.

In February 2021, New York repealed Section 240.37 – the “Walking While Trans” law – after years of advocacy by transgender and gender nonconforming New Yorkers and passed legislation providing for the sealing of thousands of related convictions.