Lauren Roberts – Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society’s  Criminal Defense Practice – extols the dangers inherent in reopening NY’s beleaguered court system in a new opinion piece in today’s NY Daily News. With in-person court appearances slated to begin this week, Roberts predicts that the reality of resuming proceedings in the enclosed public spaces of the city’s court buildings will quickly create petri dishes for new COVID-19 infections and needlessly put vulnerable New Yorkers in danger.

“The odds are against us,” Roberts writes, “as the courthouse is located in one of the zip codes hardest hit by the virus. And yet the order was issued with no reassurances that any steps have been taken to mitigate the risk to the black and brown communities who will undoubtedly bear the brunt of the imminent resurgence. For them and for all of us, the directive contemplates the perfect storm. Here we go again.”