Moments ago, by a vote of 34-15, the New York City City Council overrode Mayor Bloomberg's veto of two parts of the Community Safety Act, passed months ago by the same supermajority. The two parts
... expand the categories of communities protected from discriminatory policing tactics; establish an enforceable ban on profiling and discrimination by the NYPD; and establish an inspector general to review and report on the policies and practices of the NYPD.
Mayor Bloomberg and his also evil twin, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, were adamantly against these measures, calling them "dangerous and irresponsible," going so far as to search for candidates to run against Council members in favor of the legislation, offering 'the mayor's considerable resources' to such a candidate.
Just weeks ago Federal Judge Scheindlin ruled the Stop & Frisk as practiced by the NYPD was unconstitutional. Bloomberg lashed out with
What does she know about policing? Absolutely zero.
One might ponder whether His Honor knows anything about the Constitution. Or respect.
Bloomberg was also quoted recently as saying
If I had a a son who was stopped I might feel differently...
adding to a long record of his tactfully dealing with this issue. Not.
Now that Bloomberg and Kelly have been stomped down both judicially and legislatively one might hope that they would shut up and go away. This seems unlikely. Horribly, Kelly may be destined for the Department of Homeland Security. Bloomberg, with his bazillions, isn't likely to vanish either after his bought-and-paid-for third term is finally over on January 1st, 2014.
Despite intense opposition from law enforcement, Bloomberg and other politicos, The Community Safety Act is now law, thanks to the Center for Constitutional Rights, The New York Civil Liberties Union, intense work by City Council members and various other organizations around the City, hundreds of dedicated individuals and thousands and thousands of supporters.
Now it's time to use the new law, and Judge Scheindlin's ruling, to effect some real change in the NYPD. Good luck, New Yorkers.
1:32 PM PT:
1:44 PM PT: Here is the intro to 1080
1. End Discriminatory Profiling Act - Protecting New Yorkers against discriminatory profiling by the NYPD (Intro. 1080)
Establishes a strong and enforceable ban on profiling and discrimination by the New York City Police Department.
Expands the categories of individuals protected from discrimination. The current prohibition covers race, ethnicity, religion, and national origin. The bill would expand this to also include: age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, immigration status, disability, and housing status.
A meaningful ”private right of action” would be created for individuals who believe they have been unjustly profiled by the NYPD.
New Yorkers would be able to bring intentional discrimination claims and/or disparate impact claims, though not for monetary damages.
Change The NYPD
2:02 PM PT: Now the other part of the bill, 1079, has passed.
It was a bit confusing with OWS' tweet. I thought both had passed already.
1:59 PM PT:
2:05 PM PT:
2:07 PM PT: Here is the intro for 1079:
2. NYPD Oversight Act - Establishing independent oversight of the NYPD (Intro. 1079)
Assigns responsibility for NYPD oversight to the Commissioner of the Department of Investigation. (In NYC, the DOI currently oversees about 300 city agencies - including the Fire Department, Department of Education and Human Resources Administration – but not the NYPD.)
Oversight would include reviewing NYPD operations, policies, programs and practices.
Reports would be made public and revisited annually to see if recommendations have been followed.
2:10 PM PT:
2:18 PM PT: No, thank you!
3:06 PM PT: And El Bloombito responds in an all-too-familiar manner:
The mayor's office responded to the override of the bills Thursday in a statement, saying, in part, "Today's vote is an example of election year politics at its very worst and political pandering at its most deadly."
The statement goes on to say, "It is a dangerous piece of legislation and we will ask the courts to step in before innocent people are harmed."
http://www.ny1.com/...
4:05 PM PT: