By The Huffington Post News Editors
NEW YORK — A man whose name could go down in history books took the stand Monday in first day of the federal trial of New York City’s stop and frisk policy, testifying that police humiliated him when they twice stopped him near his Bronx home.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit civil rights legal group, is bringing the lawsuit, Floyd v. City of New York, against the city, alleging stop and frisk as it is currently being practiced violates constitutional protections against racial discrimination and unreasonable search. Under the policy, New York Police Department officers may stop, question and frisk New Yorkers — but they are only supposed to do so if they have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
Witnesses in the civil trial will include police officers and people like Jeffrey Fagan, a Columbia University law professor who will testify about alleged racial disparities in police stops. The case is a class action on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of black and Latino New Yorkers who are stopped by cops every year. But it is David Floyd, 33, the lead named plaintiff in the case, who will have his name attached to whatever decision U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin comes to.
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