The Legal Aid Society filed this amicus brief at the New York Court of Appeals in support of the rights of all bicyclists in New York. At issue was the level of suspicion needed for a police officer to stop bicyclists. Legal Aid argued that New York’s highest court should find that the stop of a moving bicycle on the road, like a stop of a moving motorcycle or car, constitutes a level three seizure requiring, at minimum, reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Stark racial disparities in police interactions with cyclists persist, and a lower standard would permit the discriminatory stop and search practices of old on Black and Brown New Yorkers, often individuals on the job delivering goods. 

In November 2023, the Court of Appeals agreed with our analysis. The Court held that police stops involving moving bicyclists are on par with those of motor vehicle drivers and require reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.