Name: Jack Rosen
Social Justice Group: War and Violence: How race affects conviction rates in NYC (B)
Date of Fieldwork: February 12, 2025
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Police Reform Organization Project| Robert Gangi and Interns
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:
Our group visited the New York Criminal Courts Building at 100 Centre Street. We met Robert Gangi, the founder of the Police Reform Organization Project, along with three college interns. In the courts, we monitored the people being arraigned for that day. We would first write down the defendant’s race and sex, and report, that out of the 12 cases we monitored, only one case involved a white male, while the other 11 cases involved New Yorkers of Color. Meaning that 91% of the cases were for New Yorkers of Color. We recorded the crime that the New Yorker was arraigned for. The violations ranged from Petty Larceny to Parole Violations to even Assult in the Second Degree. Some notable cases we experienced were cases 12, 10, and 7 where the judge and police showed an extreme amount of racial bias.
During case 10, A Black New Yorker was charged with Parole violation and a form of sexual assault. This New Yorker in particular had not attended his Parole meetings since November. In two public places, one in a bathroom and one on an escalator, this New Yorker exposed himself to a female and attempted sexual assault in front of her. He threatened a security guard with a knife saying “If you come any closer you´ll regret it.” The judge set “an unreasonable bail price¨Gangi said, which was 7500 and 5000 dollars. During Case 7, Another Black New Yorker was charged with a Weapon on Transit Authority. This New Yorker was Previously homeless and avoided many court summons due to substance use, but the judge wasn’t empathetic. For possession of a knife, She sentenced him to 5 days on Rikers Island, along with a re-summons to the court.
During our final monitored case, case 12, a Black New Yorker was charged with criminal mischief, a low-level misdemeanor. The man in question had previously been arraigned and had multiple arrest warrants outstanding. However, unlike the white male and the Latino woman, the judge exhibited significant bias. Instead of giving the man an RoR and an Order of Protection, the defendant was sentenced to 10 days on Rikers Island for “Fear of escaping arrest.”
This fieldwork provided us insight into court bias while also explaining how the justice system works. Thank you Robert Gangi for providing us with this hands on experience.
