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Blind Man Files First Stop-And-Frisk Lawsuit After Landmark Ruling
By
Lauren Evans
Published Aug 29, 2013
Modified Aug 29, 2013
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Christopher Parypa / Shutterstock.com
By
Lauren Evans
Published Aug 29, 2013
Modified Aug 29, 2013
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A legally blind black man became the first person to sue the city for unlawful use of stop-and-frisk—based on an ordeal that took place in Harlem in September 2010—following the ruling that deems the practice unconstitutional.
54-year-old Jamaica resident Allen Moye filed a lawsuit yesterday for an arrest he claims was predicated on bogus charges, the result of a stop made as he waited for a friend on the corner of W.118th Street late one afternoon three years ago. According to the Daily News, the officers reportedly snatched Moye's ID, and left him handcuffed in a police van for several hours.
“They treated me like I was from another planet, like I just landed in a space ship,” he told the tabloid. “They said they didn’t care about the Fourth Amendment.
The lawsuit directly links Moye's treatment with the August 12 ruling by Judge Shira Scheindlin, which opines that "the City acted with deliberate indifference toward the NYPD’s practice of making unconstitutional stops and conducting unconstitutional frisks."
The city's law department says that it's still awaiting the formal papers, and will "review the case thoroughly." However, a city legal source clarifies that the ruling involved requested policy changes, but that Moye is seeking damages, meaning he'll have to prove in a court of law that he was unconstitutionally stopped and falsely arrested.
The charges against Moye—which were related to credit card forgery—were dropped in February 2011.
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Lauren Evans
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