In 2021, New York City settled with The Legal Aid Society in ongoing litigation over the unconstitutional use of surveillance cameras in attorney-client interview booths in arraignment court. In accordance with the settlement, the City removed all cameras from the interview booths. Our litigation originated with a 1992 class action lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional conditions experienced by individuals detained in New York City both prior to and following their arraignments. A settlement reached in 1999 required the City to provide confidential booths for pre-arraignment attorney-client interviews.

In 2015, the City violated the consent decree by installing surveillance cameras inside the interview booths at the new arraignment court in Staten Island. The City claimed that lack of audio and masking technology in the videos did not violate individuals’ Sixth Amendment rights. In 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a declaratory order finding the surveillance constitutional.

Later that year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the order and remanded to the District Court with directions to better consider the chilling effect of such surveillance when balancing the parties’ interests. This resulted in the current 2021 settlement, and all provisions of the initial 1999 settlement thus remain live.