As In-Person Court Arraignments and Appearances Resume, the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys Condemn OCA and City Over Deplorable Courthouse Conditions

Contact:

Alexi Shalom
347-417-1715
ashalom@alaa.org

(NEW YORK, NY) - The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys - UAW Local 2325 (ALAA) condemned the New York State Office of Court Administration (OCA), the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), the New York City Department of Correction (DOC), and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for failing to address deplorable courthouse conditions as in-person court arraignments and appearances begin to resume citywide.

For over a year, ALAA has sought information from OCA and City agencies about the health and safety conditions of nonpublic courthouse spaces, including jail cell areas or “pens” - places where New Yorkers accused of a crime are held while waiting to see a judge - and other areas where attorneys meet with clients to discuss case details. ALAA has submitted multiple requests to gain access to these areas to evaluate conditions, yet those requests have been either ignored or outright denied. Prior to the pandemic, the conditions in these areas were filthy and unhealthy. Attorneys who worked in these areas, routinely became ill shortly after a shift in arraignment.  

As terrible as the conditions are for those who work in these spaces, they are even worse for those waiting to be arraigned. The pens are infested with rodents and roaches, the toilet facilities are open to the rest of the cell and are often without a properly working sink and lack soap. The food is often rotten, if available at all. And, although a person should be arraigned within 24 hours, it is not uncommon for people to be held longer than that. A global pandemic has only exacerbated these unsanitary conditions. 

As ALAA members returned to “in person” arraignments, they found that OCA and the City had not only failed to remediate the dangerous and unsanitary conditions, they had failed to take a single measure to clean or upgrade these areas from their pre-pandemic levels to meet even minimum standards of health and safety.  

“The working conditions inside the courthouse have always been abysmal and unsanitary. We all have stories about the barbaric conditions of the arraignment interview areas including watching rats scurry over our feet and roaches crawl across our files as we were writing. We have always known that working arraignments meant we’d likely be sick soon after our shift. We have been fighting to improve these conditions for years,” said Julie Sender, Manhattan Criminal Defense Practice Vice President of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys - UAW Local 2325 (ALAA). “We had hoped that OCA and the courts would take the opportunity presented by the pandemic to actually do something to upgrade the ventilation system and clean the areas where we meet with our clients. Instead, we found the same stained desks, soiled chairs, broken doors, and inoperable and dirty ventilation system from before the pandemic. We are sick of getting sick.” 

“This is bigger than just COVID, this is about ensuring that any agency which bears responsibility for keeping the conditions of all the spaces in the courthouse safe and sanitary are held accountable,” said Lisa Ohta, President of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys - UAW Local 2325 (ALAA). “We will continue to demand that all the areas of the courthouse, both public and nonpublic, be remediated and kept clean. We are fighting for humanity in an inhumane system.”

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ALAA – UAW Local 2325 is the nation’s oldest union of attorneys and legal workers.  Our more than 2,000 members are employed at the Legal Aid Society of New York City, the Nassau County Legal Aid Society, Federal Defenders of New York, The Legal Aid Society of Orange County, Youth Represent, CAMBA Legal Services, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, New York Legal Assistance Group, Asian Americans for Equality, Center for Family Representation, Safe Passage Project, The Bronx Defenders, Justice in Motion, Catholic Migration Services, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, Office of the Appellate Defender, Queens Defenders, and New Immigrant Community Empowerment.