Federal Court Finds NYPD Liable for Unconstitutional Stops-and-Frisks

Today, a federal judge found the New York City Police Department (NYPD) liable for a pattern and practice of racial profiling and unconstitutional stop-and-frisks in Floyd v. the City of New York. Floyd is a federal class action  lawsuit filed against the City of New York that challenges the NYPD's stop and frisk policies and practices as violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Read the Order here. In this historic ruling, the court has confirmed what New Yorkers have known for years: the NYPD has been engaging in systemic racial profiling, illegally stopping and frisking hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Black and Latino New Yorkers, not on the basis of reasonable suspicion but because of their race. Moreover, the judge has ordered a court-appointed monitor to help bring the NYPD into compliance with the Constitution and ensure that the Department is responsible and accountable to the communities it serves. Floyd was brought on behalf of the millions of New Yorkers who have been detained and searched without reasonable suspicion and because of their race since 2005. The suit also seeks to protect people who may be illegally stopped in the future.