Stringer Writes Op-Ed Proposing NYPD Accountability Measures
Last Friday, City Comptroller Scott Stringer (D) wrote an op-ed for the New York Daily News about how to ensure greater transparency and accountability for NYPD officer misconduct.
Stringer’s main suggestion involves strengthening the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). The CCRB is an independent agency responsible for investigating hundreds of misconduct complaints each year; however, they lack the authority to make disciplinary decisions or compel the NYPD to follow their recommendations.
“It’s time for a fundamentally new direction,” wrote Stringer. “We need real, independent oversight and real accountability. The city should end the police commissioner’s authority to treat CCRB investigations and recommendations as advisory — and instead grant the CCRB power to make final disciplinary decisions.”
Read the full article here.
De Blasio Calls on Trump to Face Reality and Begin Transition
Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) demanded President Donald Trump (R) to stop trying to overturn the results of the election and help President-Elect Joe Biden (D) with the transition.
In a letter to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), de Blasio called it an “incontrovertible fact” that Biden won the election. Continuing to litigate the results, he said, will do nothing but waste time, make the transition more difficult, and erode public trust in our institutions.
“This baseless delay does nothing but pander to those who wish the outcome were different than what it was, and further erodes trust in our public institutions,” wrote de Blasio. “You have yet to articulate to the American people why you are hampering the peaceful transition of power – a tradition that dates back to the founding of our country. The empty statements on the GSA further make clear you have no interest in abiding by what the American tradition and law require of you.”
Hoylman Denounces Court Ruling on Conversion Therapy
State Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Chelsea, Midtown) issued a statement on Friday, after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an LGBTQ conversion therapy ban in Florida.
Circuit Judge Britt Grant ruled that it was a violation of the First Amendment to ban therapists from suggesting conversion therapy to gay, bisexual or transgender clients. Hoylman protested the ruling, claiming that the right to free speech doesn’t include the right to impose your will on others.
“The practice known as ‘conversion therapy’ is barbaric and fraudulent child abuse and has no place in our society,” said Hoylman. “This decision by Trump-appointed judges is a perversion of justice that wrongly weaponizes the First Amendment against LGBTQ youth. I am proud to have sponsored New York’s ban on conversion therapy, which remains in full effect despite this horrendous decision, and I will fight tooth and nail against efforts to roll back legal protections for young LGBTQ New Yorkers.”
Williams Introduces Resolution to Recognize Trans Day of Remembrance
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams (D) introduced a resolution last Friday to officially recognize the Trans Day of Remembrance (Nov. 30) and the Transgender Day of Visibility (Mar. 31) as holidays in New York City.
The Trans Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by trans advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith. She started the holiday in honor of Rita Hester, a trans woman of color who was murdered the year before.
“The transgender community, particularly trans women of more color, are in a state of crisis, in our city and across the country. This constant struggle against systemic violence and oppression demands acknowledgment and action.” said Williams. “The city government has a responsibility to stand with a community so often marginalized, to elevate people so often pushed down, to hear and speak to the pain and loss faced by transgender individuals in our city and work to upend the system that tacitly permits it. Recognizing these days is not a solution, but it is a step and a call to action for every other day, that our work must be to advocate and create opportunities for TGNC New Yorkers.”
