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Federal Stop-and-Frisk Lawsuit Begins Today


March 18, 2013 | Andy Cush

Floyd v. City of New York, a class-action lawsuit that’s the most wide-ranging of three recent cases against the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practice, begins hearing today. The suit, which centers around a Bronx medical student, challenges the constitutionality of the entire stop-and-frisk process, and alleges that officers are pressured to meet quotas, unfairly biased black and hispanic men, and often make stops without reasonable suspicion.

Good news: Shira A. Scheindlin, the judge hearing the case, recently ruled unconstitutional a large number of the stops in the NYPD’s Clean Halls program, which property owners to opt in to allow officers to patrol and make stops inside their buildings. The current suit is expected to last “well into May,” according to the New York Times.

(Photo: Rick Brown/Flickr)