What’s News Breaking: Wednesday, July 28, 2021
LEGAL AID SOCIETY SUES NYPD: The NYPD is being sued over its alleged refusal to grant access to its special expense budget (“SPEX budget”). The Legal Aid Society filed an Article 78 petition today in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the New York City Police Department on the grounds that the NYPD is legally required to grant access to budget records. The Legal Aid Society submitted its initial Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request last fall to bring transparency and greater public understanding to the murky landscape of electronic surveillance technologies that the NYPD allegedly has disproportionately used against Black and brown communities.
This litigation comes after FOIL requests and later appeals were denied. The NYPD cited the sensitivity of the records and claimed that complying with the FOIL request would be unduly burdensome.
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