A protester taken into custody by NYPD during the 29 Aug 2004 protest against the Republican National Convention in New York City. Source : Progress New York/Archive Photograph

At SDNY, decades of looking the other way as commended partner NYPD continue to engage in a pattern or practise of violations of Constitutional and civil rights

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York countenances systemic violations of Constitutional and civil rights by the New York Police Department.

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The U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn is one of two Federal prosecutors' offices that consult with the New York Police Department before police respond to large-scale public protests. A lack of transparency by both Federal and Municipal law enforcement may be to blame for the NYPD's culture of secrecy. Progress New York/File Photograph

EDITORIAL : To restore faith in Government, U.S. Attorneys must shine a light of transparency on the NYPD

Public confidence in Government has collapsed due to systemic racism and corruption. To restore faith in Government, U.S. Attorneys must bring transparency to the NYPD.

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NYPD officers were prepared to make mass arrests during the Gays Against Bush march on 29 Aug. 2004 in Union Square. During the 2004 Republican National Convention, the NYPD made unlawful arrests of journalists, legal observers, and others -- violations of civil liberties repeated again in 2012 and 2020, without consequence. Progress New York/File Photograph

Top Federal attorney in charge of enforcing First Amendment rights and civil liberties ducks responsibility over deliberate NYPD arrests of legal observers

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman is ducking responsibility over NYPD violations of civil liberties following the deliberate arrests of legal observers at a Bronx protest. Past arrests of legal observers have been ruled unlawful by Federal Courts.

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The public rebellion against police brutality in New York is raising questions about whether Federal prosecutors in New York City consider Federal civil rights discretionary in their application. Source : Public Domain by BlaueBlüte (CC0 1.0 Universal) ; photograph was cropped from original.

As DOJ ignores racism and police brutality at NYPD, unanswered questions about whether Federal civil rights are subject to discretionary enforcement

U.S. Attorneys Richard Donoghue and Geoffrey Berman remain mum about the Justice Department ignoring racism and police brutality at NYPD.

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New York public defender Tiffany Cabán offered hope for political reform. Had she been elected as Queens District Attorney, her win would have represented success for an electoral strategy toward Government reform. Her loss, however, deals a blow to long-needed prosecutorial and judicial reform. Cabán for Queens/Fair Use

In New York, movements for reform meet barriers of entrenched machine politics, and élites survive — for now

Machine politics determined each of the outcome of the Queens District Attorney’s race, the staff of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and rulings by Court systems, giving New York élites power to withstand demands for reform by social and economic justice movements.

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