2020 protests ➔ NLG-NYC Reports: Habeas Corpus has NOT been suspended.
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9 graphics
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Description
This is an instagram post by the NYC National Lawyers Guild made up of nine graphics published during the George Floyd protests in June 2020.The instagram caption reads: Since many of you have asked, and the news has been confusing: a Primer on Habeas Corpus written by NLG attorney Rebecca Heinegg. Is Habeas Corpus suspended? No. Is holding people for multiple days without due process still fascist? Yes. We’re working on it. Art by @j0nnea [bright button or sun emoji] #blacklivesmatter #habeascorpus #nypd #nyc #nlg
The full text of the graphics reads: NLG-NYC Reports: Habeas Corpus has NOT been suspended. Habeas Corpus is a *mechanism* for getting a court to review a claim that people are being detained unlawfully- and to ask the court to order their release. The current state of the law in NY is that after a person is arrested, they must be allowed to see a judge within 24 hours unless there is a good reason for the delay. On June 4, 2020 Manhattan Supreme Court Judge James Burke denied a habeas corpus claim, called a writ, brought by the Legal Aid Society on behalf of 131 arrested protestors who had been held over 24 hours. The judge did not change any laws- he just denied the writ, saying that the NYPD is not violating the law by taking longer than 24 hours to process arrestees, because the backlog caused by the "extraordinary circumstances" of COVID-19 pandemic + mass arrests was a "good reason" for delay. Because the writ was denied, these 131 people have not been released. But they still have habeas corpus available to them. Writs could be brought for the same people again if the detention goes on longer, or if they can bring more evidence that the delay is intentional and not just the result of court backlog. It was NOT a license to hold people indefinitely, and it was not a suspension of habeas. People are still being processed and released, it is just taking longer than usual because of the backlog at the precincts and the courts. People arrested at protests are currently being held anywhere from 5 hours up to 2 or 3 days. The NYPD was NOT given a license to hold people indefinitely.
The url for the instagram post is: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBJVdrEpsEJ/
Related people
National Lawyers Guild New York City Chapter (publisher)J0nnea (artist)
Related places
New York (created)Internet (published)