Levine Lee, together with the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of eight former New York judges in United States v. State of New York et al. before the Second Circuit. The brief urges affirmance of the Northern District of New York’s dismissal of the Trump Administration’s suit to invalidate the Protect Our Courts Act, which prohibits warrantless civil arrests by ICE at New York courthouses. Levine Lee and the Brennan Center previously filed an amicus brief at the district court level.
On behalf of the amici, we argue that allowing warrantless civil arrests in courthouses would substantially disrupt the administration of justice by interfering with court proceedings, endangering courthouse safety, and deterring immigrant communities from accessing the justice system.
We are honored to represent the amici: Hon. Janet DiFiore, Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals and of the State of New York (Ret.); Hon. Lawrence K. Marks, Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Unified Court System (Ret.); Hon. Albert M. Rosenblatt, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (Ret.); Hon. Leslie E. Stein, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (Ret.); Hon. Karen K. Peters, Presiding Justice of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department (Ret.); Hon. Alan D. Scheinkman, Presiding Justice of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department (Ret.); Hon. Fern A. Fisher, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City Courts (Ret.); and Hon. Michael J. Obus, Administrative Judge for the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term, New York County (Ret.).
Kenneth E. Lee, Scott B. Klugman, and Julie-Irene A. Nkodo submitted the brief.
A copy of the brief can be found here. Read more from the Brennan Center here.