New York State Unified Court System

Soda Ban Appeal Set For June While Mayor Responds To "Anti-Bloomberg" Bill

After New York State Supreme Court Judge Tingling struck down the soda ban on Monday as "arbitrary and capricious," the administration confidently filed a notice the following day to get this whole thing sorted out. And it looks like we have a time frame: an appeals court has agreed to hear the soda ... More >>

Wait, So What Happened With Bloomberg's Soda Ban? Welp...

Yesterday afternoon, we were seriously busy writing up a post entitled "The Basics To Today's Soda Ban" a la the one we wrote for the recent MetroCard hike. It was meant to be a symbolic post, an end to the drama revolving around this damn ban and a settlement on its intended enactment this fateful ... More >>

City Can (But Won't) Play Its Part in Bus Strike

We're damn-near a month into the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181's bus-driver and matron strike, and the city is still pretending like it doesn't have everything to do with why this mess continues to drag-on. The union, politicians and parents are begging the city to at least come to the table ... More >>

Setback for Spectra Pipeline Opponents as State Judge Throws Out Lawsuit

The juggernaut that is the NJ-NY Expansion Project, familiarly known as the Spectra Pipeline, has crushed another obstacle, bringing the operation of a 30-inch-diameter transmission line full of highly-pressurized explosive natural gas in the heart of the West Village one step closer to reality. Op ... More >>

Religious Group Tries to Knock NY's Same-Sex Marriage Law and Fails . . . Again

Over the summer, we reported on this little evangelical group from Spencerport, New York, called the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom. The organization stands on that ever-tipsy fence between religion and politics; its website's mantra states that "as a Christian ministry, NYCF exists to influ ... More >>

Lap Dances Officially Not "Art," Court Rules

Sorry, strippers -- rubbing your asses on strangers is officially not "art" thanks to a ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals this morning (yes, the court actually had to decide whether lap dances are "art").In a 4-3 ruling, the Court ruled that lap dances are not tax-exempt works of art the ... More >>

Judge Halts "Broadway Bomb" Long-Board Race Because, Well, "You Could Die"

UPDATE: Broadway Bomb organizer tells the Voice he's canceled the race, says he "doesn't like jail."For the past 12 years, more than 1,000 skaters take long-boards and gone weaving through traffic on Broadway in a race dubbed the Broadway Bomb.This year's race is scheduled for tomorrow -- but a judg ... More >>

Kiddie-Porn Officially Illegal In New York Again

Bad news, perverts: kiddie-porn is illegal in New York again.Believe it or not, prior to today, "viewing" kiddie-porn wasn't a crime in the Empire State -- thanks to a ruling in May by the New York State Court of Appeals, which determined that "viewing" kiddie-porn is perfectly legal because of a lo ... More >>

New York's Same-Sex Marriage Law Triumphs in Court

It's been over a year since New York's Marriage Equality Act was enacted by Governor Cuomo. And, since then, numerous conservative groups across the state have attempted to strike the law down in court. But none have gotten as far as the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom - a group from Spencerp ... More >>

Bad News, Perverts: Watching Kiddie-Porn In New York Is Finally Going To Be Illegal

Sorry, perverts -- your days of legally "viewing" kiddie-porn in New York are coming to an end.Believe it or not, "viewing" kiddie-porn currently isn't a crime in the Empire State -- thanks to a ruling last month by the New York State Court of Appeals, which determined that "viewing" kiddie-porn is ... More >>

Does The City Know Its Own Policy On Park Performers?

Earlier this week, the Voice brought you very confusing news: The city, which just decided to let performers play in parks, might be considering kicking them out, as detailed in a recent legal filing. When the city decided to OK entertainers, Department of Parks and Recreation officials said that ... More >>

Will The City Ban Performers from Parks Again?

In May, the Department of Parks and Recreation decided that entertainers would be allowed to perform in NYC's green spaces once again -- but court docs filed yesterday suggest that City admins might have changed their mind and might plan on kicking out performers. This seeming reversal comes right ... More >>

Medical Marijuana Ban Doesn't Hurt Disabled, Court Says

More weed news from the West Coast: A federal court in California just ruled 2-1 that cities can ban medical marijuana dispensaries -- and that doing so doesn't violate the Americans With Disabilities Act. As detailed by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco's Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appea ... More >>

Six Things More Illegal Than Watching Kiddie Porn In New York (Yes, Smoking Weed And Farting In Church Made The List)

The New York State Court of Appeals on Tuesday determined that viewing kiddie porn isn't a crime. Possessing, producing, and distributing child erotica is still illegal (sorry, perverts), but the court decided that "possessing" kiddie porn and viewing it on the Internet are not the same thing. In ... More >>

New York: Come For The Bagels, Stay For The Perfectly Legal Kiddie Porn

Attention, perverts: if you like kiddie porn, you'll love New York.Probably not the slogan New York State tourism officials were hoping for, but New York has (un)-officially become the Kiddie Porn State thanks to a ruling from the New York State Court of Appeals Tuesday that determined viewing kiddi ... More >>

Redistricting Round Two: City Council Pushes Forward With New Commission Picks

The City Council today announced the key figures who will be charged with dividing up the city into new districts based on Census data. It's the next redistricting frontier! The announcement of the Council's appointments comes on the same day that important news broke in the statewide redistrict ... More >>

Courts Will Stop Selling Information that Landlords Use in 'Tenant Blacklists'

Some good news today for those of you who pick fights with your landlords, or who are harassed by them for no good reason: New York courts are going to stop selling your names to companies that make it harder for you to secure your next apartment. This policy change in the New York State Unified C ... More >>

Oral Arguments in Mathieu Lefevre Case This Afternoon

Six months to the day after Mathieu Lefevre was killed by a truck driver who ran over his bicycle in an East Williamsburg intersection, his family's lawsuit against the NYPD will be argued in New York Supreme Court this afternoon. Judge Peter Moulton has denied a motion to allow Lefevre's mother, E ... More >>

NYPD Quietly Revises Its Deadly Force Policy

The NYPD has quietly revised its Patrol Guide to add a clause that gives officers more leeway in the use of deadly force, despite currently dealing with fallout from a police shooting that left an unarmed teen dead in the Bronx. The revision is based on a 2010 New York Court of Appeals ruling which ... More >>

Bus Drivers Should Not Have to Transport Arrested Occupy Wall Street Protesters, Says TWU

In the aftermath of more than 700 reported arrests of protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, Occupy Wall Street continues to occupy a large portion of the news. This video has been circulating of what seems to be a very young girl (we've heard 13 years old, though that's not confirmed) being ... More >>

Yes, Ladies, You Can Walk Around the City Topless

via @olidub​Yesterday, we reported that a woman was spotted strolling the Bowery topless. Yes, full-on topless, no bra, no shirt, just boob. Two of them. One photo suggests that the woman was getting a ticket from two cops, but some of you commenters pointed out that this lady had every right ... More >>

José Andujar, Obama Condom Salesman, Again Arrested by City

​Despite a New York State Supreme Court ruling that "Obama" condoms are protected by the the First Amendment and that condom wrappers, regardless of what they say, "should be treated like books," a/k/a not require a vending license, José Andujar, a Times Square street vendor of Obama-branded ... More >>

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Granted $1 Million Bail, Indicted by New York Grand Jury

​A grand jury indicted ex-IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn on seven counts in New York Supreme Court on Thursday. He was changed with "two counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of attempted rape in the first degree, one count of sexual abuse in the first degree, one count ... More >>

China to Ban Public-Space Smoking in 7 Cities

​The anti-smoking ban pioneered in New York have finally caught on in its natural home of Red China, where the totalitarian government has ordered a ban on smoking in indoor public spaces in seven provincial capitals. It's up to the local governments of Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Harbin, N ... More >>

Espada's proposed "rent freeze" a gift to landlords

Thomas Spargo -- Bush Campaign Operative Turned NY Judge -- Gets 27 Months in Prison for Bribery, Extortion

Bush 2000 campaign operative Spargo's career move to the NY Supreme Court bench ends with a prison sentence for extortion, bribery.An upstate New York Supreme Court justice who had been prominent in the Bush 2000 Florida campaign — and who specialized in shaking down attorneys — was sent ... More >>

From the SLA: Le Souk Is Le Screwed

​On Monday night, Community Board 3 voted to deny a liquor license renewal to Le Souk, and today, the SLA offered unequivocal support of that decision: According to a statement released by the agency, the New York Court of Appeals has ruled to uphold the SLA's decision to revoke the Avenue B r ... More >>

Tishman Loses Stuy Town Fight; May Have to Pay $200 Million, Default

When Tishman Speyer Properties took thousands of units in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village -- longtime middle-class bastions on the edge of the hyper-gentrified East Village -- out of regulation and raised rents, tenants sued and a court found that the properties could not be deregulated, b ... More >>

Former NY Supreme Court Judge Convicted of Extortion

​A former New York State Supreme Court Justice with ties to the Republican Party was convicted by a federal jury in Albany today of soliciting bribes from an lawyer with cases pending before him. Justice Thomas Spargo, an election law specialist who worked for President George W. Bush during ... More >>

NYCLU Sues Homeland Security Over Spying on Citizens

The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing the Department of Homeland Security to find anything it can about the NYPD's plans to build a massive surveillance system in Lower Manhattan. The system will allow the NYPD, and possibly the federal government, to create a computerized database on the mo ... More >>

Ozzy Doc's Defamation Suit Against Post Dismissed

The New York Post dodged a bullet from Ozzy Osbourne's doctor, David Kipper. Courthouse News Service reports that a judge has dismissed a defamation suit against the Post on the grounds that, in condensing a Los Angeles Times dispatch, the paper inaccurately told readers that Kipper's license had be ... More >>

Paterson Angers Mayor and Greens, But Shows Gays Some Love

Governor Paterson's rotten week isn't ending much better than it started. Despite pledging to cut his own salary by 10 percent to show some sensitivity to the battered fortunes of his state, he's still getting beaten up -- Mayor Bloomberg criticized him for reducing the amount of Medicaid money the ... More >>

Voice Goes to Albany, Where Chief Judge Pick is Knocked

Politicker NY tells us Elena Sassower of the Center for Judicial Accountability brought a bunch of copies of the Village Voice to today's state senate judiciary committee hearing on the elevation of Jonathan Lippman to chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. The cover article by Wayne Barrett ... More >>

Bloomberg's Cops Illegally Cuffing Kids Under 16?

New report shows New York police arresting schoolchildren for non-crimes

Big Gay-Marriage Win for Gov in State Supreme Court

Lesbian Settles Discrimination Lawsuit Against Caliente Cab Co.

High Court Deals Death Blow to East Village MegaDorm

Still No Traction for City in Critical Mass Bike Busts

Verbatim: NY Gay-Marriage Ruling

DMX: Dancing Machine

‘Times’ Gives Morgenthau a Death Sentence

Paper backs Snyder over NYC's liberal beacon

Letters

Bleeding Hearts

How Guy's guys (and gals) plead his case

Hospital Holiday

Study Finds Poor Oversight of a Billion Health Care Dollars

Dying to Dissent

Antiwar Protesters Draw Ire From Counterdemonstrators in New York

P. Diddy in the House

The High-Stakes Testing Trap

Rising Standards, Rising Dropouts

Twilo’s Gender Gap

Dismissed Dancers May Finally Get Their Day in Court

Lapse of Luxury

Court Blasts State as Unfair to Tenants

Age-Old Neglect

Former Foster Kids: City Abandons Us