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At The Legal Aid Society our Civil, Criminal Defense, Juvenile Rights, and Pro Bono practices work tirelessly in and out of the courtroom to defend our clients and dismantle the hidden, systemic barriers that can prevent them from thriving in New York City. We seek to be a beacon of hope for those who feel neglected —regardless of who they are, where they come from, or how they identify. Our experienced teams provide comprehensive services, support, and advocacy that protect rights, keep families and communities together, and in many cases, saves lives. We have an intrinsic connection to the daily lives of New Yorkers. Here are a few of the places we made a difference, provided context or added valuable perspective this week:
LAS secures release of incarcerated New Yorkers as COVID-19 spreads at city jails
NY Daily News: Manhattan judge rules 16 ‘vulnerable’ city inmates will be released Vice News: Coronavirus Dispatches – No Hot Water – Locked Up Mother Jones: Rikers Jail Inmates Speak Out As Coronavirus Cases Spread NYDN: Coronavirus keeping prison-bound inmates in limbo Law 360: NY Judges Release 122 Inmates As Virus Cases Spike In Jails NY Post: Number of NYC inmates with coronavirus soars as jail population dwindles NY Times: Governor and Mayor Hit Back at Trump Over Ventilators for Coronavirus BuzzFeed: Rikers Island Detainees Say They Fear Dying From Coronavirus Gothamist: As Infections Surge On Rikers Island, Cuomo Orders Some Parole Violators Released NYLJ: New York to Release Up to 1,100 People Jailed on Parole Violations, Officials Say Huffington Post: Prisoners At Rikers Say It’s Like A ‘Death Sentence’ As Coronavirus Spreads Newsweek: NY to Release 1,100 as Worries Over Prison System’s Vulnerability to COVID-19 Mount PBS News Hour: Incarcerated people face potential disaster during outbreak ABC News: Conditions on Rikers Island during COVID-19 unsafe, some inmates say Yahoo News: Watery soap to disinfect: Conditions on Rikers Island during COVID-19 unsafe Newsweek: Rikers Island Chief Physician Warns Coronavirus Cases ‘Growing Quickly’ The Intercept: Rikers Island Prisoners Being Offered PPE and $6 an Hour to Dig Mass Graves CBS: Boro Pres, Union Demand Better Protections For Rikers Correction Officers Pix 11: Needs for correction officers on Rikers Island Atlantic: Can’t We at Least Give Prisoners Soap? Pix 11: Correction officer with lupus fears for her health at Rikers Island NYT: ‘We’re Left for Dead’: Fears of Virus Catastrophe at Rikers Jail NYLJ: Cuomo Weighs Grants of Clemency Amid Coronavirus Outbreak in Prison System Politico: Legal Aid presses for more transparency on coronavirus outbreak in jails Queens Daily Eagle: At least 167 NYC inmates, 114 jail staffers now have COVID-19 WaPo: Top doctor at Rikers Island calls the jail a ‘public health disaster’ City Limits: The Coronavirus Thread: Broad Clemency Sought as COVID Hits State Prisons Buzzfeed: People Are Bailing Out Inmates From New York City’s Biggest Jail The Guardian: Coronavirus spread at Rikers is a ‘public health disaster’ Gothamist: “Nobody Is Safe Here”: Inmates Live In Fear As Coronavirus Spreads NY1: Advocates Push for Release of Parolees During Coronavirus Crisis THE CITY: Call for Cuomo to Free Ailing Prisoners as Virus Spreads NY Mag: Coronavirus in New York: Latest Updates The Crime Report: Rikers COVID-19 Outbreak Called ‘Public Health Disaster’ Democracy Now: Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The U.S. Prison Pandemic Gothamist: Defense Lawyers Demand Release Of Vulnerable Prisoners AMNY: Call for Cuomo to free ailing prisoners as virus spreads New Yorker: A Pulp-Fiction Novelist Trapped on Rikers During the Coronavirus Pandemic The Chief Leader: Husamudeen Rips Correction Dept., Mayor for ‘Failing’ COs on Supplies Sputnik News: New York’s Rikers Island Inmates ‘Dehumanized’ By Digging Mass Graves
LAS offers guidance as renters face uncertainty during COVID-19 outbreak
NY Times: 40% of N.Y. Tenants May Not Pay Rent This Month. What Happens Then? Law360: Attorneys Predict Rent Cancellation Defense, Challenges The City: April’s Rent is Due But I’ve Lost Income. What Are My Options? Commercial Observer: Will New York Cancel Rents and Commercial Mortgage Payments? CBS: Rent Due For Millions Of New Yorkers, Many Fear They Can’t Pay After Losing Work Vice Impact: Should I Pay My Rent on April 1? We Asked a New York Housing Organizer City Limits: The Coronavirus Thread: Mayor Seeks Immediate Rent Freeze Gothamist: Some Desperate NYC Tenants Say “There’s No Choice” But To Rent Strike Curbed NY: What NYC renters need to know during the coronavirus pandemic Bklyner: April’s Rent Is Due But I’ve Lost Income. What Are My Options? NY Curbed: One of New York’s new rent laws struck down by appeals court NY1: Couple Kicked Out of Apartment After COVID-19 Diagnosis
LAS files for release of vulnerable juveniles from detention
Politico: Teens in Juvenile Facilities Sue to Leave Centers NBC News: Coronavirus in juvenile detention is a ‘nightmare scenario,’ THE APPEAL: Coronavirus Prompts Urgent Calls for Minors in Detention to be Released The City: Mayor Hails Release From Juvenile Detention, Yet Most Remain as Virus Hits The Hill: New York is being sued for the release of teenagers at risk for coronavirus Bronx Times: Legal Aid Society files lawsuit to release juveniles from center
LAS secures release of immigrant detainees Documented: The Varick St. Immigration Court Has Moved All of Its Hearings to Fort Worth Progressive: Don’t Let Trump Make Immigrants Victims of COVID-19 The Intercept: How Ice Operations in New York Set the Stage for a Coronavirus Nightmare Law 360: Some NJ, NY ICE Detainees To Be Released Amid Pandemic DocumentedNY: Judge Orders Immigrants Released from Detention Due to COVID-19
City must do more to protect the homeless
The Crime Report: NYC Accused of ‘Negligence’ in Caring for Homeless Youth WSJ: New York City Must Shield Homeless From Coronavirus, Legal Aid Says Pix 11: How the city’s homeless deal with COVID-19 and precautions for the virus’ spread The Intercept: NYC Has Done Almost Nothing to Protect its Homeless Shelters From Coronavirus
Bail reforms rolled back in state budget
Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Opinion: Cuomo is exploiting a pandemic to roll back bail reform NYDN: New York lawmakers slated to approve changes to controversial bail reforms Mother Jones: Cuomo’s Push to Send More People to NY Jails Will Likely Worsen the Pandemic Pix 11: Bail reform overhauled in New York budget
More LAS in the news
Politico: New York City to shut down worship services as coronavirus spreads City Limits: Cuomo Extends School Closure, Names New Hospital Sites Chronicle of Social Change: New York Foster Youth Ousted from Dorms Roll Call: Coronavirus could overwhelm legal help for America’s poor Politico: Public defenders raise civil rights concerns as more court proceedings move online Independent: AOC calls for end to ‘preferential treatment’ for wealthy in coronavirus response The Intercept: NYPD’s Aggressive Policing Risks Spreading the Coronavirus