District 24

NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, chair of the Committee on the Justice System, issued the following statement after Mayor de Blasio’s nine nominees for interim Civil Court judgeships were sworn in this morning. Following sustained advocacy from Council Member Lancman, nearly all of the interim Civil Court judicial vacancies are now filled.

“The appointment of nine interim Civil Court judges, almost all of whom will be assigned to Criminal Court, is great news for our justice system and ongoing efforts to reduce case backlog in our criminal justice system. READ MORE

NEW YORK – The New York City Council today unanimously passed Council Member Lancman’s legislation, Intro. 542, to require the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender Based Violence to provide individuals receiving services at Family Justice Centers (FJC) with service satisfaction surveys. The Committee on Women formally considered the legislation in October 2018, and approved it yesterday. READ MORE

NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, chair of the Committee on the Justice System, today introduced legislation, Intro. 1324, to establish a task force to develop strategies to prevent white supremacist violence. The task force is charged with studying white supremacist organizations and acts of violence encouraged by these organizations, and making recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council for improving safety procedures. READ MORE

NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, chair of the Committee on the Justice System, issued the following statement calling for an investigation into why the Police Department is declaring such a large percentage of rape cases in Queens as “unfounded.” The Appeal reported today about concerns that the Police Department is prematurely closing cases without a thorough investigation, while “research shows only 2 to 10 percent of reported rapes are actually false…27 percent of rapes reported in Queens were deemed unfounded in 2015.”

“It is alarming that the NYPD is declaring so many rape allegations in Queens as ‘unfounded,’ seemingly in many cases without doing a thorough investigation, at rates substantially higher than the rest of the City, and far beyond percentages reported across the country. READ MORE

NEW YORK – The New York City Council today passed Council Member Lancman’s legislation, Intro. 514, to require the Department of Correction (DOC) to inform every individual released from a city jail of their voting rights. The Committee on Criminal Justice approved the legislation yesterday.

The bill directs DOC to provide every person released from a city jail with written notice outlining the voting rights of formerly incarcerated individuals in New York State, and details on voter eligibility. READ MORE

NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman yesterday urged the city to take the rise in white supremacist violence seriously, and treat these hate groups as the domestic terrorist organizations that they are.

Lancman’s comments came at a City Council hearing to examine how the city is combating white supremacist hate crimes, following the rise of alt-right violence and the “Proud Boys” assaults in October, and the strategies the police department is using to keep New Yorkers safe. READ MORE

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/gp/42441242@N03/tFNwos

NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, Council Speaker Corey Johnson, and 18 Council Members hosted a celebration of Diwali at City Hall last night that featured a lamp lighting ceremony, dance performances, and the presentation of proclamations to distinguished South Asian leaders. Several dignitaries delivered remarks during the program, including Sandeep Chakravorty, the Consul General of India; READ MORE

NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, chair of the Committee on the Justice System, which oversees the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the city’s five District Attorneys, issued the following statement after 30 members of the “Proud Boys,” a white supremacist hate group identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center, brutally attacked individuals on the streets of New York City last night, while shouting anti-gay slurs and even brandishing a sword, in full view of the police. READ MORE

NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman and the Community Service Society of New York (CSS) today criticized the NYPD for falling short of its obligations under Local Law 47, which requires the Department to report quarterly on the number of arrests made and civil summonses issued for fare evasion, broken down by demographic information, at each of the city’s 472 subway stations.   READ MORE

NEW YORK – The New York City Council’s Committees on Governmental Operations and Criminal Justice today held a hearing to consider legislation on voting rights for justice-involved individuals, including Council Member Lancman’s bill, Intro. 514, to require the Department of Correction (DOC) to inform every released individual of their voting rights. The legislation was first introduced in the City Council in November 2016, and re-introduced earlier this year at the start of the new Council session. READ MORE