Floyd v. City Of New York

283 F.R.D. 153 (2012)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Police are permitted to briefly stop any individual, but only upon reasonable suspicion that he is committing a crime. These stops are called Terry stops. On over 2.8 million occasions between 2004 and 2009, New York City police officers stopped residents and visitors, restraining their freedom, even if only briefly. Over fifty percent of those stops were of Black people and thirty percent were of Latinos, while only ten percent were of Whites. Floyd, Clarkson, Dennis, and Ourlicht (Ps) are Black men. They seek to represent a class of similarly situated people in this lawsuit against the City of New York, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and named and unnamed police officers. Ps seek equitable relief in the form of (1) a declaration that Ds' policies, practices, and/or customs violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, and (2) a class-wide injunction mandating significant changes in those policies, practices, and/or customs. D's stop and frisk program was subject to a prior class action that required D to adopt several remedial measures intended to reduce racial disparities in stops and frisks. The form that police fill out when they conduct a stop was changed so that the encounters would be more accurately documented; and regular audits of the forms, among other measures were agreed to. In 2008, after the prior settlement expired, Ps brought this action, alleging that Ds had failed to reform their policies and practices. Ps now move for certification.