Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP

On Wednesday, November 27, 2024, Southern District of New York Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted a motion brought by ECBAWM and The Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project to find the City of New York in contempt for its failures to comply with court orders designed to prevent violence against incarcerated people in the City’s jails including Rikers Island. In her opinion, Judge Swain stated that for almost a decade, the City of New York has made “half-hearted” and “inconsistent” efforts to remedy the unconstitutional levels of violence in its jails. The Court has instructed the parties to outline a plan for federal receivership of New York City’s jails by January 14, 2025. This marks a major victory for Plaintiffs and marks a step forward towards keeping individuals housed in the City’s jails safe from harm and violence. The plaintiffs in this action are represented by ECBAWM attorneys Jonathan Abady, Debbie Greenberger, Katie Rosenfeld, Vasudha Talla, and Sana Mayat, and paralegals Carlos Martínez-Montes, Lyra Straley, and Toby Shore. https://lnkd.in/e62zPzXu

ECBAWM’s Partner, Ilann Maazel spoke at the 2024 PILnet Global Forum in Bangkok, Thailand. The Global Forum is an annual international gathering of leading public interest lawyers throughout the world. Ilann chaired a panel on the topic: “’How to Make a Living While Saving the World.” https://lnkd.in/eppjC9ay

On November 21, 2024, ECBAWM filed a lawsuit in King County Supreme Court on behalf of two renters alleging that Affordable Housing Real Estate Corp. and landlords working with the company, repeatedly and entirely ignored their inquiries upon learning the two families had housing assistance vouchers. The complaint alleges that the Fair Housing Justice Center conducted a testing investigation which shows an ongoing practice of refusing to work with or show apartments to individuals with housing vouchers. As alleged in the lawsuit, the Defendants’ refusal to assist, negotiate with, or rent to the Plaintiffs constitutes source of income discrimination prohibited by the New York City Human Rights Law. The plaintiffs are represented by ECBAWM partner Diane Houk and Housing Works attorneys Armen Merjian and Bex Rothenberg-Montz. https://lnkd.in/etD6uugr

On Friday, November 22, 2024, we filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of a tenant, alleging that Essex Property Trust, Inc. refused to allow her to apply to renew her lease at an apartment building in Long Beach, California using her Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. As alleged in the suit, Essex’s refusal to consider the tenant’s Housing Choice Voucher violated California’s fair housing laws, which explicitly prohibit landlords from discriminating on the basis of a tenant’s lawful source of income. “When large corporate landlords like Essex ignore California law and refuse to consider a tenant applicant’s Section 8 voucher as a source of income, they close the door to low-income renters, who are already struggling to find affordable housing in the Los Angeles area,” said ECBAWM Nick Bourland. “This suit seeks to hold Essex accountable for its flagrant violation of our client’s fair housing rights and to ensure that future Essex tenants are not turned away based on their source of income.” The plaintiff is represented by ECBAWM attorneys Nick Bourland and Vasudha Talla. https://lnkd.in/eruSZN2D

The Sing Sing Chronicles is a four-part series that builds on decades of investigative reporting from Dateline NBC Producer Dan Slepian and exposes the injustice of five different cases of wrongful conviction at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. The documentary features BxD Board Chair Earl Ward's client JJ Velazquez who was recently exonerated. Don’t miss this special two-night event from Director Dawn Porter this Saturday and Sunday at 9pm ET on MSNBC.

Today, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of J.H, a developmentally-disabled man with autism and intellectual disabilities, who was neglected and brutally beaten while living under the care and supervision of HASC Center, Inc., the operator of residential facilities for adults with developmental disabilities in Brooklyn and Queens. The suit alleges that HASC failed to supervise J.H. and failed to protect him from a brutal beating by an HASC aide, which resulted in J.H. being hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. “Families of adults with developmental disabilities trust that organizations like HASC Center will care for their loved ones,” said ECBAWM attorney Nick Bourland “Instead of treating J.H. with dignity, HASC neglected him and did nothing to protect him from a foreseeable, brutal attack that left him gravely injured. This suit seeks to hold HASC and its staff accountable for its inhumane treatment of J.H., a particularly vulnerable individual.” J.H. is represented by ECBAWM attorneys Ilann Maazel, Nick Bourland, and Sana Mayat. https://lnkd.in/dMTBw5Qz

Suing the #NYPD feels great; winning feels even better. Can’t stop smiling on the way out of federal court after the judge approved our $17 million settlement, providing a measure of justice to the thousands of New Yorkers forced to remove religious head coverings for an illegal photo database. So grateful to all the people who made this victory possible: our brilliant co-counsel at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, my amazing colleagues at Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, and most of all, our fearless clients, who fought with us every step of the way for more than 6 years. ??

On Monday November 18, 2024, U.S. District Court judge, Analisa Torres granted final approval of ECBAWM’s class action settlement with the City of New York for $17.5 million for people who were forced to remove their religious head coverings for post-arrest photos. Under the terms of the settlement, more than 3,600 class members were eligible for payments of approximately $7,000 to $13,000. The settlement came nearly four years after the NYPD agreed to change its policy on religious head coverings and as the NYPD faced allegations it illegally retained mugshots as part of its facial recognition surveillance program. The class is represented by Andrew Wilson, Matt Brinckerhoff, Sana Mayat, Carlos Martínez-Montes, and Dymond Wells of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP (ECBAWM), a leading civil rights law firm, together with Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group.

NEW YORK, NY – On November 18, 2024, the New York University Journal of Legislation & Public Policy and the Brennan Center for Justice convened a panel discussion at the New York University School of Law to discuss the genesis of bipartisan legislative reforms to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the 118th?Congress and prior, including the Federal Prison Oversight Act and the Prison Camera Reform Act.?On the panel, ECBAWM Attorney?Dan Eisenberg?spoke about his work as Deputy Staff Director & Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations—the primary investigative body of the United States Senate—leading investigations into corruption, mismanagement, and abuse at the Federal Bureau of Prisons. These investigations, plus reporting from the Associated Press, helped to foster bipartisan consensus that the Federal Bureau of Prisons required additional oversight and scrutiny. Dan was joined on the panel by Hernandez Stroud of the Brennan Center for Justice, Michael Sisak of the Associated Press, Kevin Ring of Arnold Ventures (formerly President of FAMM), and Sara Schaumburg of Arnold Ventures (formerly Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA)).

Following a?groundbreaking settlement secured by ECBAWM in August 2024, in which Parkchester agreed to set aside apartments and end minimum income requirements for renters with housing vouchers and subsidies, ECBAWM has secured an additional settlement between Parkchester and a Section 8 voucher holder, Ms. S. In November 2022, ECBAWM filed a complaint on behalf of Ms. S. in the New York Division of Human Rights against Parkchester for discriminating against Ms. S. based on her source of income. As part of the settlement, Parkchester agreed to pay Ms. S $75,000 plus her attorney’s fees, which is believed to be one of the highest settlements ever approved by the Division in a housing discrimination case. In a statement, Ms. S said: “The value of having a home: a place to come back to at night, a safe place to protect your children and raise your family, somewhere that’s yours is absolutely priceless. I’ve always believed in standing up for myself, so I greatly appreciate the support, the effort and the fight from the FHJC and especially from my attorneys Diane Houk and Vivake Prasad. They made me be heard and I will forever be grateful.” The settlement was featured in the newsletter of the Fair Housing Justice Center, available?here. Ms. S was represented by ECBAWM attorneys?Diane Houk and?Vivake Prasad.