The New York Civil Liberties Union is asking the state’s Supreme Court to appeal a recent decision declining the release of further details about the grand jury investigation concerning the death of Eric Garner.
On Tuesday, the NYCLU filed an appeal asking the Empire State’s
top court to reconsider its request from last year for
transcripts, juror instructions, evidence details and other
information relevant to the grand jury proceedings conducted in
the wake of Garner’s death last August.
State Supreme Court Justice William Garnett ruled against the
December request this past March, saying that the NYCLU lacked
standing to ask the court to unseal the grand jury records. In
the motion filed this week, however, the civil liberties group
argues that disclosure must be made, especially in light of
recent events in which allegations of police misconduct have
raised questions about law enforcement tactics employed from
coast to coast.
“First, disclosure is necessary to remedy the blow to public
confidence in the criminal justice system caused by the grand
jury’s failure to hold any officer responsible for Mr. Garner’s
death,” NYCLU attorneys write in the appeal.
READ MORE: NY Judge rejects request to release Eric Garner grand jury records
“Second, disclosure is necessary to inform a debate among the
public and elected officials about proposed grand jury reform
measures designed to address the perceived problem of the Garner
grand jury result—a problem whose very parameters remain
unknown.”
Garner died last August after being placed under arrest by New
York Police Department officers. Video footage of the incident
captured the man gasping, “I can’t breathe,” while being put in a
chokehold. A grand jury ultimately declined to indict any of the
NYPD officers in his death, prompting NYCLU and others to ask
questions about the proceedings. The grand jury documents
concerning the hearing remain largely under seal to this day.
“The Garner controversy has provoked a debate about the need for
Grand Jury reform. But discussions regarding the need for reform
are proceeding without any real understanding of how and why the
Grand Jury reached its decision,” NYCLU Legal Director
Arthur Eisenberg said in a statement. “This absence of public
information can and should be corrected. In a democracy,
decisions about the need and nature of reform should rest upon a
fully informed discussion by the electorate and its
representatives. To provide for that reasoned decision-making,
the general presumption in favor of Grand Jury secrecy should
yield to transparency in this case.”
When Garnett rejected the NYCLU’s previous request, he wrote that
the plaintiffs had failed to establish a "compelling and
particularized need" for the release of the grand jury minutes.
He also agreed with prosecutors who said that disclosure could
put the safety of witnesses at risk.
READ MORE: New York judge might release Eric
Garner grand jury transcripts
"What would they use the minutes for? The only answer which
the court heard was the possibility of effecting legislative
change," he wrote. "That proffered need is purely
speculative and does not satisfy the requirements of the
law."
Coupled with the recent highly publicized officer-involved
incidents that have involved the deaths of Freddie Gray in
Baltimore, Michael Brown in Ferguson and many more, Garner’s case
has amplified calls for reform in policing practices within the
United States.
“Across the country people are coming together to protest the failure of our criminal justice system to value black lives,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said this week. “New York has an opportunity to end the secrecy that has heightened deep-seated suspicions about the criminal justice system’s willingness and commitment to hold police officers accountable when they kill unarmed civilians. We hope the court seizes this moment to provide some much needed transparency for the thousands who continue to demand answers in the streets.”