Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani this week pushed his way into the pending lawsuit over the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk tactic, taking shots at the judge who presided over the case.
The appeals court threw Manhattan Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin off the case, claiming her behavior implied a bias against the city.
Scheindlin had ruled the NYPD routinely violated the rights of thousands of black and Latino New Yorkers through unconstitutional street stops. The appeals court put her ruling on hold and tossed her off the case.
Giuliani said as a “friend of the court” he could try and keep the appeal alive after Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio takes office. De Blasio has said he’ll drop the appeal.
With the matter now before the appeals judges, the former law-and-order mayor — who is not a party in the case — filed court papers Wednesday as a so-called “friend of the court.”
He and his close friend, ex-Attorney General Michael Mukasey, took aim at Scheindlin, who last week asked the appeals court to put her back in the case. The court this week rejected her request.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers, the Center for Constitutional Rights, say Scheindlin should stay on the case because she’s been on it since 2008 and knows the facts better than any newcomer.
Giuliani’s involvement came as the New York Civil Liberties Union released a report documenting a 600% increase in street stops by cops during most of Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure.
With Nancy Dillon and Barry Paddock
