June 8, 2020

Contact:

Daniel Ball, Brooklyn Defender Services (DBall@bds.org)

Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders (RKarerat@bronxdefenders.org)

Redmond Haskins, The Legal Aid Society (RHaskins@legal-aid.org)

Sam McCann, The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (SMccann@ndsny.org)

Hettie Powell, Queens Defenders (hpowell@queensdefenders.org)

Lupe Todd-Medina, New York County Defender Services (LToddmedina@nycds.org)

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Joint Statement In Support Of Today’s Public Defender March For Black Lives

(NEW YORK, NY) - The Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Legal Aid Society, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, Queens Defenders, and New York County Defender Services issued the following statement in support of today’s public defender march for Black lives:

"As public defenders we see the trauma and toll that systemic racism and police brutality impose on the communities we serve every day. Today we march to demand an end to state sanctioned violence and demand justice. We march for the countless lives lost. We march to defund and demilitarize the police and demand transparency, accountability and an end to qualified immunity. We march because Black lives matter to public defenders.”