On May 16, 2012, a federal judge certified a class action in the case of Floyd v. City of New York. If you, since January 31, 2005, have been unconstitutionally stopped and/or frisked by the New York Police Department, you are a member of the class. This website provides more information about the lawsuit, the class, and how you can become involved.
The Lawsuit
Over the past decade, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has stopped and frisked millions of New Yorkers, with Blacks and Latinos representing the vast majority of those stopped. In 2008, plaintiffs filed the case Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al. against the NYPD to challenge its practice of engaging in unconstitutional stop and frisks of law-abiding New York City residents.
The named plaintiffs in the case represent the thousands of New Yorkers who have been stopped without any cause on the way to work, in front of their house, or just walking down the street. The lawsuit specifically challenges the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policies and practices as violations of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures and the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections against racially-discriminatory policing. Plaintiffs are represented by Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Covington & Burling LLP.
Class Action Status
On May 16, 2012, a federal judge ruled that this lawsuit may move forward as a “class action” lawsuit. The court’s decision can be found by clicking here.
The judge certified a class consisting of:
All persons who since January 31, 2005 have been, or in the future will be, subjected to the New York Police Department’s policies and/or widespread customs or practices of stopping, or stopping and frisking, persons in the absence of reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity has taken, is taking, or is about to take place in violation of the Fourth Amendment, including persons stopped or stopped and frisked on the basis of being Black or Latino in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Because of the judge’s ruling, if you have been unlawfully stopped and/or frisked by the NYPD on or after January 31, 2005, you are already a member of this lawsuit. You do not need to do anything to be a member of the class.
What Does It Mean to Be A Member of the Class?
The Floyd lawsuit does not seek money for the class of individuals who have been unlawfully stopped and/or frisked by the NYPD. The goal of the lawsuit is instead to obtain a ruling from a federal court that aspects of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policies and practices are unconstitutional and should be fundamentally changed. These changes would apply to all members of the class.
How Can You Get Involved?
If you were stopped and/or frisked by the New York City Police Department after January 31, 2005, and would like to contact the Floyd legal team, we invite you to fill out the confidential form on this website by clicking here. An attorney may contact you in the coming weeks or months to discuss what happened when you were stopped.
Please note that due to the large volume of people contacting us, and our limited resources, we regret that we cannot respond individually to every person who contacts us.
Please continue to check the website, http://ccrjustice.org/floyd, for updates on this case.
