A police program in New York City allows landlords to give permission to the police to patrol the halls of their apartment buildings. Operation Clean Halls has operated since 1991 as part of the departments stop and frisk program.  Advocates of the program say it helps deter criminals, such as drug dealers, from operating inside the buildings.

But three civil rights organizations … the New York Civil Liberties Union, Latino Justice (PRLDEF) and the Bronx Defenders, have joined to file a federal class-action suit on behalf of tenants and their guests. They want the courts to modify what they say are unlawful practices used to enforce the program. . Maria Hinojosa talks about the suit with Juan Cartagena, president and general counsel for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, one of the organizations that filed the suit.

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Juan Cartagena

is the president and general counsel for LatinoJustice PRLDEF. He is a constitutional and civil rights attorney with experience in employment rights, language rights, voting rights, public education financing, environmental law, housing and access to public hospitals.