By Terry Baynes
Feb 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday granted
class-action status to a lawsuit seeking to stop the New York
Police Department from conducting some "stop and frisk" searches
of people outside certain residential buildings in the city's
Bronx borough.
U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin found that a group of
black and Latino residents in the Bronx could bring claims on
behalf of a class of hundreds, and possibly thousands, of people
at risk of being stopped outside the buildings.
The lawsuit contends that the practice, in which police stop
and question people they suspect of unlawful activity and frisk
those they suspect of carrying weapons, violates the U.S.
Constitution.
On Jan. 8, Scheindlin ordered that some stops related to an
anti-crime program once known as "Operation Clean Halls" must be
halted immediately. Officers would have to have "reasonable
suspicion" that an individual is engaged in criminal activity to
make a stop, she ruled.
But Scheindlin placed that order on hold on Jan. 22, while
the city pursues an appeal.
Defenders of the tactics, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
say the police practices have helped to reduce crime.
The plaintiffs requested class-action status to ensure that
any temporary ban on the program would apply to all people at
risk of being stopped outside the Bronx apartment buildings,
Monday's opinion said.
The New York City Law Department did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.
The case is Ligon et al v City of New York, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York, no. 12-2274.
For the plaintiffs: Christopher Dunn, Alexis Karteron,
Taylor Pendergrass and Daniel Mullkoff of the New York Civil
Liberties Union; McGregor Smyth and Mariana Kovel of The Bronx
Defenders; Juan Cartagena, Foster Maer and Roberto Concepcion of
LatinoJustice PRLDEF; John Nathanson, Tiana Peterson and Mayer
Grashin of Shearman & Sterling.
For the city: Heidi Grossman, Mark Zuckerman, Joseph
Marutollo, Brenda Cooke and Richard Weingarten of the New York
City Law Department.
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