Jackie Gosdigian, Senior Supervising Policy Counsel at Brooklyn Defender Services, testified before the New York City Council Committee on Children and Youth at an oversight hearing on secure detention conditions and youth incarceration policies in New York City. Gosdigian described overcrowded facilities where young people report sleeping in classrooms and hallways and going days without showers. She also noted that students in detention have missed hundreds of days of school each month because ACS failed to bring them to the classroom. Gosdigian urged the Council to expand community-based alternatives to detention and supported Res. 274-2026, which calls for New York City to be included in state Raise the Age program funding. “In order to decrease the population of incarcerated youth and break the cycle of re-arrest it is imperative that we focus on alternatives to detention and keep our young people in the community with their families, while providing them with the supportive services they need,” Gosdigian said.

“Pregnant New Yorkers deserve dignity, care, and choice—regardless of system involvement,” Jillian Modzeleski, Director of the Women’s Defense Practice at Brooklyn Defender Services, told the New York City Council Committees on Criminal Justice and Women and Gender Equity at an oversight hearing on maternal health and criminal justice. Modzeleski noted that nearly 60% of the women incarcerated at Rikers are Black, and that in New York, Black women and birthing parents are six times more likely than their peers to die of a pregnancy-related cause. She urged the Council to divert pregnant people from jail so they can get prenatal care from their own providers in their communities. Modzeleski also urged the Council to pass Res. 497, which supports state legislation to end the shackling of pregnant and postpartum people in custody, and to support the state CARE Act, which would set enforceable standards of care for incarcerated pregnant people and birthing parents.

Hannah Mercuris, Senior Attorney 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 shelter safety and voiced support for Int. 99-2026. The bill would require reporting on where families are placed in shelter in relation to their prior zip code. “It is essential that, whenever safe, New York City prioritize shelter placements close to communities of origin,” Mercuris testified, describing families placed far from home who waited weeks for the school busing they are entitled to. Mercuris also raised concerns that shelter staff, who are not adequately trained to deescalate conflicts, often call law enforcement or the Administration for Children’s Services over unfounded allegations and minor rule infractions, which can lead to family separation.

The Legal Aid Society, The Bronx Defenders, New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), UnLocal Inc., LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Immigrant Defense Project, New York County Defender Services, Brooklyn Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem, and Make The Road New York lauded the court’s decision to grant New York City’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) that challenged the City’s sanctuary laws, which prohibit local law enforcement and city agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

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.

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.”