The Legal Aid Society

Wrongful Conviction: When Prosecutors Rely on False Testimony Legal Aid's Elizabeth Felber demands accountability for those who use or tolerate false testimony in criminal cases.

Read more about the crisis of wrongful convictions and prosecutors’ role in it on our blog: legalaidnyc.org/news/wrongfu...

Wrongful convictions aren’t accidents. Police and prosecutorial misconduct are leading causes of wrongful convictions — and without real accountability, innocent people will keep losing years of their lives to injustice.

The result? Thousands of innocent people imprisoned. And almost no accountability.
ProPublica examined 30 New York cases overturned for prosecutorial misconduct. Only one prosecutor was disciplined.

Prosecutors are supposed to prevent this. Instead, too often, they rely on testimony they know — or should know — is false.

These aren’t just statistics.
James Davis, exonerated by our Wrongful Conviction Unit, was falsely accused by a jealous ex.
Fernando Bermudez spent 18 years in prison after witnesses were pressured to lie.

Wrongful convictions rarely stem from a single mistake.
They’re the result of a perfect storm:
- Perjury/false accusations
- Official misconduct
- Misleading forensics
- Mistaken IDs
- False confessions

Since 1989, 3,735 people in the U.S. have been exonerated after spending more than 34,000 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit.
And the number keeps growing.

Asylum Seekers in Panic Over Trump’s Unclear $100 Fee The Trump administration's lack of clarity about when and how to pay new fees sparked chaos and misinformation among immigrants with pending asylum…

Confusion. Fear. Exploitation.

The Trump administration’s unclear rollout of new asylum fees has left thousands of immigrants scrambling—and opened the door for scammers to profit off their fear.

https://nysfocus.com/2025/09/29/asylum-100-dollar-fee

LAS Sues Over Violations of Solitary Confinement Law on Rikers Island New Yorkers, including those with disabilities, are regularly held in solitary confinement for 23 or 24 hours a day in violation of the HALT Act.

"These repeated violations of the law must end immediately. DOC must be prevented from inflicting the pain and trauma of solitary confinement on anyone in its custody.” Veronica Vela, Supervising Attorney, Legal Aid

More: legalaidnyc.org/news/lawsuit...

Orville Etoria Released From African Jail, Returned to Jamaica The United States government had deported Orville Etoria, who has Jamaican citizenship, to a prison in Eswatini, a country he had never been to and with which he had no ties.

A Major Victory: Orville Etoria Is Free.

We’re relieved to share that Orville Etoria has been released from an Eswatini prison and safely returned to Jamaica.

More: legalaidnyc.org/news/orville...

N.Y.C. Watchdog Agency Is Investigating Deaths in Police Custody

While we welcome the Inspector General’s decision to investigate, accountability cannot end there.

The City must confront the NYPD’s unlawful reliance on custodial arrests for low-level offenses and the unsafe and inhumane conditions in precincts and courthouses.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/n...

NYPD impunity is killing New Yorkers. At least 9 people have died in NYPD custody this year.

Join us Sept 22, 9 AM @ City Hall to demand accountability.

Right to Counsel fails to live up to potential, report finds — Queens Daily Eagle The city’s first-in-the-nation right to counsel program has failed to live up to its potential after years of underfunding and mismanagement have left around three quarters of eligible New Yorkers wit...

In a historic affordability crisis, underfunding the RTC program is a choice that fuels eviction & displacement. Now more than ever, there is an urgent need for increased funding to ensure all New Yorkers have access to the zealous legal representation they deserve.
Learn more: bit.ly/48ruNPY

Fearful NY migrants are skipping doctors' visits and food help, advocates say A City Council hearing examines how migrants are holding up under President Trump's deportation effort.

“ Under Trump 2.0, we are seeing increased isolation again, this time with immigrants fearing completing daily tasks due to the potential for ICE enforcement.”
Rachel Goldsmith, Director of Social Work, LAS

More: gothamist.com/news/fearful...

With 5 deaths in NYPD custody this year, public defenders ask who's policing the police? The Legal Aid Society says an independent agency should automatically investigate any death in NYPD custody — because none do now.

BREAKING: We are demanding an immediate investigation into a series of tragic deaths of New Yorkers held in NYPD custody.

The NYPD’s lack of transparency around how and why these deaths occurred is unacceptable.
gothamist.com/news/with-5-...

Fewer Eligible Tenants Get 'Right to Counsel' After Pandemic, Program Expansion: Report - City Limits As evictions spike, the Independent Budget Office highlights ongoing challenges in the city’s program to provide free legal representation to low-income tenants facing eviction.

Now more than ever, there is an urgent need for increased funding to ensure all New Yorkers have full and fair access to the zealous legal representation they need and deserve. ⬇️

citylimits.org/fewer-eligib...

New York’s Rikers Island: life and death inside the jaws of hell The prison is known by many names, from Gladiator School to Torture Island. With three deaths in a fortnight, brutal conditions continue to stain the city

"One of the United States’ most devastating human rights violations." Mary Lynne Werlwas, Director of the Prisoner’s Rights Project, Legal Aid

www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

Adams' Administration Delays CityFHEPS Expansion Again, Asks Court for Appeal - City Limits After an appeals court ruled the mayor must implement a package of bills expanding eligibility for CityFHEPS housing vouchers, the Adams administration asked the court for permission to appeal the dec...

“By requesting permission from the court to appeal this decision, Mayor Adams is once again prioritizing bureaucratic delay over the urgent needs of families facing eviction and homelessness.”
Robert Desir, Civil Law Reform Unit, Legal Aid

citylimits.org/adams-admini...

LAS Mourns the Loss of Client Jimmy Avila Mr. Avila is one of four New Yorkers who have died in City custody in just over a week.

Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Avila’s family and friends.

With each of these deaths, the City responds with the same boilerplate language, but conditions don’t improve, the people we represent continue to suffer, and these tragic deaths continue to mount.

legalaidnyc.org/news/las-mou...

LAS Mourns the Loss of Client Christopher Nieves Legal Aid is demanding an urgent, transparent, and full investigation into Mr. Nieves' death.

LAS mourns the loss of client Christopher Nieves, who died while in NYPD custody at Bklyn Criminal Court.

This loss represents at least the 12th person this year to die in City custody or shortly after being released.

We demand a full investigation into his death: legalaidnyc.org/news/las-mou...

LAS Demands Ban on NYPD’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology Legal Aid is calling for an investigation after detailing multiple alarming cases in which the NYPD appears to have violated its own policies.

“Everyone, including the NYPD, knows that facial recognition technology is unreliable, yet the NYPD disregards even its own protocols...Elected officials must act now to ban its use by law enforcement.”
Diane Akerman, LAS Digital Forensics Unit

legalaidnyc.org/news/demands...

LAS Wins Preservation of Key Incentive for Homeless New Yorkers The City's "unit hold" incentive ensures that apartments are held for perspective tenants using CityFHEPS housing vouchers while their paperwork is processed.

“This ruling is a resounding victory for homeless families and individuals who depend on the CityFHEPS program to escape shelter and secure stable housing.”
Pavita Krishnaswamy, Supervising Attorney, LAS

legalaidnyc.org/news/las-win...

NYPD, prosecutorial misconduct court settlement payouts exceed $77 million: Legal Aid The payouts covered 592 cases of alleged misconduct against the NYPD and city prosecutors that were settled, but an NYPD spokesman said 41% of the cases were for lawsuits regarding overturned convi…

Your tax dollars at work… paying for NYPD misconduct.

From January to June 2025, NYC has already paid out $77.3 MILLION to settle lawsuits alleging police misconduct. Last year? $206 MILLION. Since 2018, that total has hit $834 MILLION—and counting.

www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/15/n...

NYPD, prosecutorial misconduct court settlement payouts exceed $77 million: Legal Aid The payouts covered 592 cases of alleged misconduct against the NYPD and city prosecutors that were settled, but an NYPD spokesman said 41% of the cases were for lawsuits regarding overturned convi…

Your tax dollars at work… paying for NYPD misconduct.

From January to June 2025, NYC has already paid out $77.3 MILLION to settle lawsuits alleging police misconduct. Last year? $206 MILLION. Since 2018, that total has hit $834 MILLION—and counting.

www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/15/n...

LAS Sues to Protect New Yorkers Declared Unfit for Trial Hundreds are routinely left to languish for months on Rikers Island in horrific conditions while they await the court-ordered mental health treatment.

“Our clients—and hundreds of others like them—are trapped in legal limbo, deteriorating in a jail system utterly unequipped to meet their needs.” – Elena Landriscina, Supervising Attorney, The Legal Aid Society

legalaidnyc.org/news/lawsuit...

N.Y.P.D. ‘Quality-of-Life’ Teams Are Expanding. Not Everyone Is Happy.

“This expanded surveillance and criminalization does not increase the safety or well-being of the people and communities we serve.”
Meghna Philip, Director of the Special Litigation Unit at the Legal Aid Society.

More: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/n...

Too Afraid to Go to Court: 8 Groups File Amicus Brief on Arrests at Courthouses | Law.com The amicus brief of Legal Aid Society and seven other organizations said the federal administration’s ramped up immigration enforcement effort might violate numerous constitutional protections.

“New York has a constitutional duty to ensure equal access to justice, and to benefits and services, for all New Yorkers—regardless of immigration status. This lawsuit is another example of that political attack, and it should be dismissed.”
– Meghna Philip, LAS

www.law.com/newyorklawjo...

📢 To the youth:
🔹 Know your rights
🔹 Ask questions
🔹 Demand better

Click here to stay up to date with this legislation: t.co/6FJyEL0CTw

Young people know what’s at stake, and they’re speaking up.

This isn’t about safety. It’s about control.

From pants to hoodies to face coverings, clothing has long been weaponized as a pretext for targeting communities of color. This is no different.