Rankin & Taylor has brought suit against the NYC Dept. of Corrections on behalf of a client seeking to visit the grave of her stillborn child on Hart Island.  The island is the location of New York’s Potter’s Field where at least 850,000 people have been buried.  An Article 78 Petition was filed seeking an [...]

New York Times featuring David Rankin: “City is No Long Reporting the costs of Its Settlements of Federal Cases”   Colin Moynihan of The New York Times reports:   The New York City Law Department has quietly adopted a practice of withholding from public filings how much it pays to settle most federal court cases [...]

Nearly four years ago, R.J. Osterhoudt was unlawfully arrested in Williamsburg during a spontaneous street celebration of Barack Obama’s election as president. Rankin & Taylor represented Osterhoudt in criminal court, resulting in dismissal of the charges after 11 court appearances.   Now, in his civil rights lawsuit, a Brooklyn federal judge has ruled (link to [...]

Nick Pinto of the Village Voice writes in “The NYPD’s Poor Judgement With the Mentally Ill“: On the evening of March 15, Shauna Francis called 311 looking for some information. She wanted to call an ambulance for her 30-year-old sister, Shereese, but wasn’t impressed by the quality of care at Queens General, the nearest hospital. Shauna wanted to know if she could ask [...]

Nick Pinto of the Village Voice writes in “More Pepper-Sprayed Protesters Sue NYPD“: Three Occupy Wall Street protesters announced today that they are suing the New York Police Department in federal court over officers’ use of pepper spray on marchers last September 24. Two of the plaintiffs, Damien Crisp and Julie Lawler, were sprayed by [...]