NYPD Arresting Gays on Charges Ruled Unconstitutional 26 Years Ago

I have said many times on this blog that after 32+ years as an attorney, I have little or no faith in the justice system in the USA - especially when the targeted individuals are LGBT citizens. I suspect other minorities are likewise failed by the legal and judicial system regularly. A story out of New York City reported by Slate demonstrates just how screwed up the system is where police charge individuals under a statute stuck down as unconstitutional over a quarter of a century ago. Insult is added to injury by the incompetent/homophobic judges who do not throw out the charges unless and until confronted by defense counsel. Unfortunately, the situation in New york is not uncommon - after laws are struck down by appellate courts, it is rare that the legislative body goes back and repeals the law. A case in point is Virginia's sodomy statute that was struck down by the U. S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas. The statute is STILL set out in the Code of Virginia even though it was ruled unconstitutional six (6) years ago. Here are some highlights from the Slate story:

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In 1983, New York's high court struck down as unconstitutional a 1960s-era provision that made it illegal to cruise—that is, to hit on someone in a public place. And yet in the 26 years since, on thousands of occasions, the New York Police Department has continued to enforce the defunct law, historically used to target gay people.

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Whatever one may think of cruising and whether it should be prohibited, the court's ruling should have killed off the statute. Instead, in the 26 years of this law's odd posthumous career, district attorneys brought 4,750 prosecutions and judges convicted 2,550 defendants. For violating an imaginary law, these defendants paid a decidedly non-imaginary $70,000 in bail and $190,000 in court fees and fines. In the last 10 years, NYPD officers also issued 9,693 citations, forcing citizens to pay $71,000 in fees. The criminal records of these victims have never been expunged and the fees and fines have not been refunded.

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In March 2008, civil rights lawyers brought a class action in federal court on behalf of the thousands of people unconstitutionally arrested, cited, and prosecuted under the defunct anti-cruising law. In May, Judge Shira Scheindlin ordered the City of New York to send letters to the police, district attorneys, and trial judges to remind them that the anti-cruising law was void and should no longer be enforced. NYPD brass sent out a bulletin to officers stating that in each officer's personal copy of the penal code, the law should be "stricken by drawing a line through it in black ink." (After 26 years, the law was still on the books because the legislature had never repealed it.)

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Obviously, there needs to be an investigation of NYPD and how this injustice was allowed to go on for decades. Was there no one in an oversight position to notice the statute was invalid? Unfortunately, I doubt that the situation in New York is the least bit unique. Moreover, given the homophobia exhibited by far too many police officers, some citations were probably written just to jerk the gay victims around. As for the judges reviewing these charges, most probably were too incompetent to know the statute had been struck down, while the rest were more than happy to convict the faggots. Our judicial and legal system is seriously screwed up and most politicians could care less.