City appeals stop-and-frisk ruling
The city will formally appeal a federal judge’s ruling that the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) stop-and-frisk policy, as currently laid out and enforced, is unconstitutional.
Judge Shira Scheindlin handed down the 195-page decision on August 12, in response to the case, Floyd vs. City of New York, stating that stop-and-frisk violated the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures by government, and the 14th Amendment equal protection clause.
In response, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the program as crucial to crime prevention, crediting it with the city’s record low crime rates.