Queens Defenders

03/11/2025

HAPPENING NOW: Anthony Martone, Queens Defenders Interim Executive Director & CEO, is testifying in front of the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety to request funding to bring public defender salaries in line with 2023's 110% increase to 18b assigned counsel.

Watch live: https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/webcasts/

"We urge the City Council to fund a 25% salary increase for the critical work public defenders do for New York City’s residents who cannot afford an attorney. This increase would demonstrate the value of their work, the vital role they play in New York City’s justice system, and simultaneously support the retention of the high quality staff our organization spends years training and developing."

03/05/2025

Queens Defenders is proud to be part of the Alliance to Protect Kalief’s Law. This past Monday we joined advocates across the state to call on Albany to protect discovery reform, because New York's discovery laws work!

We thank Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson and Senator James Sanders Jr for meeting with our team about the crucial role discovery plays in protecting the basic rights of New Yorkers and preventing wrongful convictions. Join us by calling your representatives and urge them to protect your rights and prevent Governor Hochul's rollback on discovery.

https://www.news10.com/news/ny-news/discovery-advocates-rally-against-propsed-hochul-rollback/

03/03/2025

NEW YORK'S DISCOVERY LAWS WORK!

Repealing New York’s discovery laws will not “reduce delays,” “streamline case processing” or “close loopholes,” as the Governor claims. Instead, it will gut Kalief’s Law, leading to more wrongful convictions, coerced plea deals, and clogged courts.

Here's what the Governor's proposal would do...

03/03/2025

We're in Albany calling on Governor Hochul to abandon the principles of and roll back the landmark discovery reform done in 2019. The Governor claims that sharing evidence with New Yorkers undermines public safety, but that is dangerously wrong.

Tell your legislators not to put a blindfold on justice and protect New York's Discovery Laws!

Learn more at - https://protectkaliefslaw.com

02/24/2025

Today we joined other justice organizations across the city to call on this administration to and abolish NYPD's Gang Database. NYPD’s so-called “gang database” is a tool for racial profiling, not justice. This system unfairly singles out entire communities, including children as young as 11, labeling them as “gang members” based on nothing more than their race or neighborhood. It’s time to put an end to this racist practice that punishes people without cause or evidence.

Contact your representatives to demand an end to the "Gang Database"!

Find more ways to take action at https://erasethedatabasenyc.com/take-action/

02/13/2025

Earlier this week, New York's Chief Judge, the Honorable Rowan D. Wilson, called for passage of the Second Look Act in the annual State of the Judiciary.

If passed, the Second Look Act would allow people serving prison terms of 10 years or longer to apply to judges and ask them to re-evaluate their sentences. The aim is to “address the harms caused by New York’s history of imposing overly harsh sentences, including those required by mandatory minimums."

02/11/2025

Queens Defenders is proud to be a member of the Alliance to Protect Kalief's Law, which opposes Governor Hochul's proposed changes to New York State’s landmark discovery law. Learn more about Kalief's Law at the Alliance's newly launched website: https://protectkaliefslaw.com/

02/04/2025

The Queens Defenders Board of Directors has appointed Anthony Martone as Interim Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer.

Read the full release:

Date: February 4, 2025 Contact: [email protected] *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*The Queens Defenders Board of Directors has appointed Anthony Martone as Interim Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer following the suspension of Lori Zeno on January 30, 2025.“The board looks forward to worki...

01/29/2025

Queens Defenders thanks NYS State Senator James Sanders Jr. (10th Senate District) for meeting with representatives from Release Aging People in Prison - RAPP, People's Campaign for Parole Justice, and Queens for Parole Reform to discuss the Senator's co-sponsored bills: Fair & Timely Parole (S159/A127) & Elder Parole (S454/A514).

Nearly 600 people from around the State gathered in Albany yesterday to voice their support of these bills.

Contact your legislators and urge them to pass these bills:

The Fair & Timely Parole (S159/A127) bill restores the Parole Board to its original purpose of evaluating readiness for release, rather than denying people based solely on their conviction, while preserving the Board’s discretion to make individualized determinations.

The Elder Parole (S454/A514) bill provides for parole release consideration, on a case-by-case basis, for people classified by DOCCS as older adults (age 55+) who have served at least 15 years.

01/22/2025

HAPPENING TODAY: Day of Action in Honor of Robert Brooks

More than 30 days have passed since Robert Brooks was beaten to death by prison guards at Marcy Correctional Facility. There have been no arrests or indictments.

Queens Defenders in partnership with Families & Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted are holding a rally tonight at The Barclays Center in Brooklyn at 6:00pm.

Contact:
Renny (347)388-7974
Derrick (646)371-7409
Rev. Kevin McCall (929)320-3911

01/20/2025

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dedication to equal justice by supporting the All Of Us day of action, education, & resistance.

Register at bit.ly/ReclaimMLK2025 to receive updates for the online and in-person activities happening throughout the day which will include a Day of Service Community Meal, banner/sign making, crucial community conversations, guest speakers and more.

01/17/2025

Yesterday, the city’s Board of Correction met for the first time following the release of its “Second Report and Recommendation on 2024 Deaths in New York City Correction Custody,” which highlights the deaths of Charizma Jones and Anthony Jordan.

This report is yet another illustration of the dire carceral conditions that plague the entire NYC jails system. 33 people have died in DOC custody under Mayor Adams’ administration -- How many more preventable deaths in custody will it take for State lawmakers to prioritize legislation aimed at ending mass incarceration and for the City of New York to Close Rikers?