Pubdate: Thu, 02 May 2013
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2013 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Ray Rivera

FEDERAL SUIT CLAIMS POLICE DISTORT MARIJUANA SEARCHES TO CREATE MISDEMEANORS

One man was walking home with groceries. Another was on a break from 
his job at a meat market. A third was walking down the street 
listening to headphones.

That is when the men say police officers confronted them, sometimes 
violently, searched their clothing and discovered small amounts of 
marijuana, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit that is 
expected to be filed on Thursday in United States District Court for 
the Southern District, in Manhattan.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of five Bronx men, contends that New 
York City police officers routinely stop black and Latino men without 
cause and then charge them with low-level misdemeanors when their 
pockets are emptied and small amounts of marijuana are found.

In each of the cases, the amount of marijuana found on the men would 
have amounted to little more than noncriminal violations punishable 
by a fine of up to $100 for first-time offenders. But the lawsuit 
contends that the charging officers falsely claimed the marijuana was 
in public view, making it a low-level misdemeanor under Section 
221.10 of the New York Penal Code, which allows for sentences of up 
to three months in jail.

Critics of the Police Department say the practice, which they call 
manufactured misdemeanors, is widespread. The arrests are often the 
outgrowth of the department's stop-and-frisk program, which is being 
challenged in federal court for, among other things, 
disproportionately targeting black and Hispanic men.

The lawsuit names the city, the department and several officers and 
supervisors as defendants. It was filed by the Bronx Defenders, which 
represents low-income defendants, and the law firm of Emery Celli 
Brinckerhoff & Abady L.L.P. A similar lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid 
Society is pending in state court in Manhattan.

A spokeswoman for the city's Law Department declined to comment on 
Wednesday, saying the city had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

The Police Department charged more than 50,000 people with marijuana 
misdemeanors in 2011. More than 84 percent were black or Hispanic, a 
disparity that is even more pronounced in the Bronx.

In an effort to limit these arrests, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has made 
decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana in open view one of his 
top goals this legislative session. The Legislature failed to act on 
a similar measure last year, despite support from Mayor Michael R. 
Bloomberg and the police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly.

Though state law calls for misdemeanor cases to be tried within 60 
days, the time limits are seldom met, the lawsuit contends. People 
arrested in the Bronx have it even worse; a recent series of articles 
in The New York Times revealed a dysfunctional justice system plagued 
by long delays that often make it all but impossible for people 
charged with misdemeanors to ever reach trial. Two of the plaintiffs 
in the lawsuit, Francisco Zapata and Danilo Melendez, were featured 
in one of the articles. They endured long delays and made frequent 
court appearances waiting for trial before the charges against them 
were finally dropped.
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