Fresh off his decisive victory in November’s election, a victory made possible in part because of his record on public safety, Mayor Michael Bloomberg set out what he called “A Blueprint for New York City’s Future” in his State of the City address on January 26th.
To an outside observer, it may have seemed strange that, in addition to ambitious pronouncements about tackling poverty, creating new jobs, rebuilding the World Trade Center site, and reforming the Administration for Children’s Services in the wake of the killing of seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown, the mayor reserved a considerable portion of his speech to new crime-fighting proposals. Yet recent events have forced public safety issues back into the consciousness of New Yorkers.
Of course, Bloomberg made sure to mention the continuing drop in crime numbers. Through December 18th (as of this writing, the date of the most recent numbers available online), the number of major crimes had dropped 12 percent over the same period in 2004. Furthermore, according to the mayor, crime has dropped by 20 percent since he was elected in 2001.
To Bloomberg’s credit, he made a number of concrete proposals to fight crime over the next year, a refreshing change from the lack of policy detail laid out during his campaign.
The mayor announced that the police department would expand Operation Trident, an initiative introduced last year that split up troublesome precincts and sent in additional police officers. Though the name may be lacking in originality (the Metropolitan Police Service in London began their own Operation Trident in 1998 to tackle gun violence), the policy itself seems to have been a success.
In East New York’s 75th Precinct, a Trident target in 2005, crime fell by 12 percent. While the incidence of homicide was unchanged over 2004, East New York saw large drops in rape (though, as the Village Voice pointed out,rape numbers are notoriously difficult to assess), robbery and burglary.
Following on the success of Operation Trident in the 75th Precinct, Bloomberg said that the initiative would be expanded to two precincts in the South Bronx—the 44th precinct and the 46th precinct.
Bloomberg also called upon the state legislature to pass a law requiring the collection of DNA samples in all criminal convictions. The mayor called the proposed law “the single best way to catch offenders before they become serial offenders, as well as to exonerate the innocent.” In light of the opposition such proposals have received in the past from civil liberties groups, who argue that extensive DNA collection is an invasion of privacy, passing such a law surely will not be easy, especially if Bloomberg insists on including convictions for misdemeanors. It also takes quite a faith in the “broken windows” theory to believe that your average turnstile jumper or shoplifter is likely to turn into a murderer or rapist. Add to that the sheer number of misdemeanors that flow through the city’s criminal justice system every year -- a report by the New York Criminal Justice Agency found more than 176,000 of them in 1998, and there is no reason to suggest that there are fewer today -—administering such a DNA collection system would take substantial resources.
Bloomberg’s top public safety priority in the coming year, however, is fighting gun violence, and keeping illegal guns off the street. This should come as no surprise, as it has been the mayor’s focus since two police officers were killed at the end of 2005. In his State of the City speech, Bloomberg vowed to “marshal all of our resources and work with all of our partners in public service -- whether they are across the rotunda in City Hall, up in Albany, or in big cities across the nation -- both to root out and punish these criminals and to stop the flow of illegal guns into our city.”
The mayor outlined several proposals to achieve this goal, some old, and some new. One was filing new lawsuits against the dealers responsible for selling the guns that end up being used in crimes; experts suggest that about 60 percent of the guns used across the country to commit crimes come from just one percent of gun dealers. Another idea that had been suggested before was to work with elected officials across the country to toughen gun control laws and improve enforcement (“Mike gunnin’ for NRA” was the headline in the Daily News when the mayor first suggested such a plan, in an article that also wondered whether Bloomberg would use some of his own money to campaign against illegal guns.)
Among the new proposals was a commitment to debrief felony gun defendants after they are arrested (to gain intelligence on the illegal gun market), a plan to use new video technology to track the source of gun shots, and a collaborative effort to flag the cases of gun offenders when they are arrested for other crimes. Bloomberg also proposed two new pieces of legislation: a new registration program for individuals convicted of gun crimes -- a “Megan’s law for gun criminals” in the words of the mayor -- and a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years for anyone convicted of criminally possessing a loaded gun.
It is hard to imagine that the members of the state legislature who passed the Crimes Against Police Law in December in the wake of two police shootings could have dreamed of a better poster boy for the law than 25-year old Damian Henry. Henry -- a “cop-hating thug” in the Post’s estimation -- has been charged under the new law with first degree attempted murder after firing an Uzi at two police officers outside an East Flatbush club that he was allegedly about to rob. Police also say that, in a coincidence Charles Dickens would be proud of, Henry was arrested last summer for firing at a correction officer with the same gun that was later used to shoot Officer Dillon Stewart.
The tragic death of Nixzmary Brown has had ramifications for the city’s child services system that will be felt for years. Now Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes wants life without parole for similar crimes. Nixzmary’s stepfather, the accused killer, is charged with second degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years to life. Bills have been introduced in both the state senate and assembly to change the law.
David Dean, a student at New York University School of Law, worked as a policy analyst in the Mayor's Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator.Â
As long as there have been landlord and tenant disputes - - which is as long as there have been landlords and tenants - - there has been an imbalance: Some people own the housing that other people need for shelter. And, at least since 1972, with the creation of the Housing Court within New York City Civil Court, there has been another dramatic imbalance. Landlords have attorneys, and tenants don’t.
Much has been said and written about this. Little has been done.
The New York County Lawyers' Association held a conference in 2004 to analyze the issues facing housing court. A report (in pdf format) of conference findings and recommendations was recently issued.
The report points to the gap in representation in the 350,000 residential cases that are filed every year: "11.9 percent of tenants in New York City Housing Court were represented by an attorney and 97.6 percent of landlords were represented by an attorney. As grim as these figures are, they likely understate the percentage of low-income tenants who are unrepresented..."
With self-represented (called pro se) tenants filling the courtrooms and hallways of the boroughs' Housing Courts, it is a scene one law professor described as a "largely one-sided eviction apparatus." Others have called it Kafkaesque, or as acrimonious as a bad marriage.
Federal and state courts, including New York's Court of Appeals, have distinguished between civil and criminal cases, holding that all persons accused of crimes, facing possible loss of liberty, are entitled to free legal representation. But there has never been a similar right in civil cases. Of course, those able to retain and pay their own counsel have always been able to do so, both in civil and criminal proceedings. But the issue that has never been resolved is, who provides the lawyers for the vast majority of Housing Court litigants who lack the funds to pay their own lawyers?
Tenants are severely and dangerously under represented by lawyers. The lack of representation deprives them of a fair trial, due process, and access to courts, according to Andrew Scherer, an expert in residential landlord-tenant law who is head of Legal Services for New York, which represents indigent clients in civil actions. Scherer believes it violates the federal and state constitutions as well as civil rights laws, and argues that there is only one solution - - to recognize a guaranteed right to counsel. But the right to counsel cannot be merely theoretical. It means that as in criminal cases, government must supply and pay for lawyers, for those who cannot afford to pay fees, and they must be lawyers who are knowledgeable in the field.
Lawyer-less litigants are generally intimidated by the maze of housing court, a court that even many lawyers have difficulty figuring out. Some conference participants urged Housing Courts judges to be more protective of tenants, especially the most vulnerable, the disabled, the impaired, the aged. But Housing Court judges, like judges elsewhere, cannot become advocates for those appearing before them and can usually do little more than try to explain to the unrepresented tenant what he or she is facing at trial or in agreeing to in a settlement. The settlement is usually contained in a stipulation signed in the corridor, and often contains terms the tenant does not understand or could never comply with, particularly when up against a lawyer for the landlord. (Joe Lamport last month wrote about these hallway settlements in Gotham Gazette’s housing topic page.) In addition to judges being prohibited from giving legal advice, Housing Court judges are not elected, but appointed, and for only five year terms; they are acutely aware of the problems they could experience in their own careers. If they are seen as being "pro-tenant," they could risk not being reappointed.
With Legal Services, the Legal Aid Society and housing clinics facing strained budgets, cutbacks, overwhelming caseloads and severely overworked staffs, Scherer continues to press the position that anyone facing the loss of a home should not only be entitled to representation as a matter of fairness, but under law. The conference report calls Scherer's analysis "persuasive" and adopts his view. But neither the legislature nor the courts have ever been persuaded.
Nobody is counting on a tenant right to counsel anytime soon, even though stakes in Housing Court are high -- evictions...and more homelessness.
Emily Jane Goodman is a New York State Supreme Court JusticeÂ
In the wake of two fatal shootings of New York City police officers in the space of less than two weeks, the New York State Legislature sprang to action so that it could, well, appear to be springing to action.
At the end of the special legislative session, they had passed two new laws. The first increases penalties for those caught with illegal guns, while the second increases penalties for those who kill or threaten police officers. It was an impressive exercise for a legislature that routinely struggles with such tasks as passing a budget, and which has failed in its attempts to pass similar bills for several years running.
However, the more important question is whether the new laws will lead to less gun crime and fewer attacks against police officers, and that question is still an open one.
In the early morning hours of December 10th, off duty New York City police officer Daniel Enchautegui was shot and killed as he investigated an ongoing burglary in a neighbor’s home. According to news reports, Enchautegui identified himself as a police officer before one of the suspects shot him. Though injured, the officer apparently returned fire at least six times, hitting both suspects. Officer Enchautegui was taken to the hospital, where he died less than an hour later.
Police officers responding to Enchautegui’s call for backup arrested the two wounded suspects. The suspects were identified as 48-year old Steven Armento, and 29-year old Lillo Brancato Jr., an actor who had starred in 1993 in "A Bronx Tale," directed by Robert DeNiro, and had gone on to a recurring role in The Sopranos and minor parts in other movies. Armento and Brancato were arraigned several days later in the Bronx hospital where they were being treated, on charges including murder.
Enchautegui was the second New York City police officer killed in 2005. The first, Dillon Stewart , was killed less than two weeks earlier, on November 28th.
While the tabloids initially played up the Sopranos link, their reaction quickly turned to rage. Both the New York Daily News and the New York Post ran a series of editorials demanding that the state legislature convene a special session to increase penalties for gun crimes. An guest essay in the Daily News called for the reinstatement of the death penalty.
At least partly in response to these calls, on December 16th Governor George Pataki called a special session of the state legislature to consider his proposals to fight violence against police officers and trafficking of illegal firearms. Pataki’s proposed bills included authorizing the death penalty for the killing of a police officer. The Post, uncharacteristically, opposed the governor’s move as an inappropriate attempt to reinstate the death penalty through the back door, and Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno eventually agreed to drop the provision. Democrats in the State Assembly were pursuing new regulations on gun dealers that would have required better record-keeping and training of employees, which they said would prevent illegal sales and assist in investigating gun crimes. The Republican-controlled State Senate opposed such measures, however, and Assembly leader Sheldon Silver agreed to drop the provision.
The Senate and Assembly reached a compromise on December 21st, passing two new bills, which Governor Pataki signed into law that evening. The bills enhance punishments for the sale and possession of illegal firearms, including making it a felony to possess three or more firearms illegally (it was previously only a felony to possess twenty or more). The bills also increase the maximum penalty for the murder of a police officer to a life sentence without the possibility of parole, and enhancing punishments for other crimes against police officers, peace officers, and corrections officers.
It is easy and perhaps unfair to question the motives behind the special legislative session. Had the deaths of Officers Stewart and Enchautegui not come so close to each other, it is unlikely that these new laws would have been passed. The fatal shooting of two New York City police officers is two too many, but it is worth remembering that four officers were killed in the line of duty in 2004, unaccompanied by fevered editorial campaigns by the city’s newspapers.
But what of the merits of the laws? Will they prevent gun trafficking and violence against cops?
Supporters of the new legislation contend that the new law will send a “tough on crime” message, and deter illegal gun trafficking by increasing the penalties for those who possess and sell illegal guns in New York.
But surely enhanced penalties are not a panacea. New York already had programs in place to provide greater penalties for gun crimes. Specialized gun courts in Brooklyn and Queens, for example, have been operating for several years, and have resulted in jail time for a number of defendants who otherwise would have been given probation. In addition, many gun possession cases, especially when the defendant has a criminal record, are passed up to federal prosecutors, since penalties for gun possession are much harsher under federal law.
Moreover, studies have suggested that the certainty of punishment deters crime more effectively than the severity of punishment . With this in mind, Governor Pataki’s recent pledge to commit one hundred state police officers to work with federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents to track illegal guns is a welcome one. According to the governor, the officers will also be deputized to make arrests in other states.
The general consensus seems to be that the new laws are a necessary first step. State legislators on both sides of the aisle have pledged to revisit the issue in the next session. In the end, however, it is likely to take more than action by the state legislature to make a real dent in the problem of illegal gun trafficking. As Mayor Michael Bloomberg argued on his weekly radio show, after the passage of the new legislation, lax gun control laws in other states fuel much of the illegal trafficking of guns that end up on New York’s streets.
David Dean, a student at New York University School of Law, worked as a policy analyst in the Mayor's Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator.Â