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Read the latest on our policy campaigns, victories, and more. Please direct all media inquiries to mediarequests@bds.org.

Press Release: New York Legal Organizations Urge State Commission on Forensic Science to Reject Law Enforcement’s Request to Use Novel, Invasive DNA Testing Methodology Until Significant Guardrails Are Established

Legal organizations across New York State urged the New York State Commission on Forensic Science (the Commission) and the DNA subcommittee to reject as premature the New York State Police’s request to implement the use of an emerging DNA methodology called SNP DNA testing – which provides highly sensitive information about a person’s biogeographic ancestry, genetic and health dispositions, and other private information – until clear, binding legal guardrails are established to govern its use, provide for oversight, and ensure transparency and accountability.
Press Releases
Surveillance and Civil Rights

Testimony: The New York City Council Committee of the Whole Oversight Hearing Examining the Risks Posed by Artificial Intelligence

Jacqueline Gosdigian, Supervising Policy Counsel at Brooklyn Defender Services, testified before the New York City Council Committee of the Whole at an oversight hearing examining the risks posed by artificial intelligence. She warned that the NYPD and Department of Correction are already using AI-enabled surveillance tools against New Yorkers with little transparency, and that these tools are trained on data drawn mostly from low-income communities of color. “The NYPD must be required to disclose and audit the use of their AI and surveillance tools, and independent audits of the AI tools being used by our law enforcement agencies must be done, at a minimum.”
Letters & Testimonies
Surveillance and Civil Rights

Testimony: The New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice Oversight Hearing on Mental Health in the City Jails and Int. 133

Lucas Marquez, Director of Civil Rights & Law Reform at Brooklyn Defender Services, testified before the New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice at an oversight hearing on mental health in the city jails and Int. 133-2026, which would extend the Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, Non-Binary, and Intersex (TGNCNBI) Task Force. “The lack of transparency around the housing application process and the haphazard decisions being made by DOC, puts people in danger and exacerbates mental health issues,” Marquez testified, pointing to transgender women who have faced harassment and assault while housed in men’s facilities.
Letters & Testimonies

Testimony: The New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice Oversight Hearing on Mental Health Care in New York City Jails

“Jails are not therapeutic environments and are not appropriate settings for people to get meaningful mental health care,” Danielle Regis, Senior Supervising Attorney in the Mental Health Representation Team at Brooklyn Defender Services, told the New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice at an oversight hearing on mental health care in the city’s jails. With over 61 percent of people at Rikers requiring ongoing mental health care, Regis urged the Council to stop the flow of people with serious mental illness into jails by addressing unaffordable bail, ending policing as the default response to mental health crises, and passing a resolution in support of the state’s Treatment Court Expansion Act.
Letters & Testimonies

Testimony: The New York City Council Committee on Immigration Oversight Hearing Examining the Executive Order 13 of 2026 Report of Audit Findings and Recommendations

Josh Epstein, Director of the Immigration Practice at Brooklyn Defender Services’ Queens Office, testified before the New York City Council Committee on Immigration at an oversight hearing on the Executive Order 13 audit of city agencies’ compliance with New York City’s sanctuary laws. Citing the audit’s finding that only 24 of 3,672 civil immigration detainer requests were authorized under city law, Epstein urged the Mayor’s Office to review how the NYPD audits access to its surveillance systems and voiced BDS’s support for the NYC Trust Act (Int. 209-2026), which would let people seek judicial review when city agencies cooperate with ICE in violation of municipal law. “We cannot claim to have identified or stopped every leak of New Yorkers’ information to immigration authorities when we have no reliable way of knowing who is accessing these databases, for what purposes, or whether that information is being shared outside authorized channels,” Epstein said.
Letters & Testimonies
Immigration Raids & Detention

Testimony: The New York City Council Committee on General Welfare Oversight Hearing: The CityFHEPS Program

Lauren Price, Associate Director in the Civil Justice Practice at Brooklyn Defender Services, testified before the New York City Council Committee on General Welfare at an oversight hearing on the CityFHEPS program. Describing months-long waits for appointments, unchecked source of income discrimination, and an error-prone apartment approval process, Price urged the Council to pass Int 0101-2026, which would set a time requirement for approvals, and to require HRA to publish timelines for each stage of the application process. “Landlords know that the CityFHEPS program is riddled with errors, delays, and an overall lack of clear communication,” Price said.
Letters & Testimonies
Tenant Rights and Housing Discrimination

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Brooklyn Defender Services
177 Livingston St., 7th Fl.
Brooklyn, NY 11201

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