Chief Judge Declares Support for Summons Reform

Our work was referenced in this article on Politico.

“Lippman’s speech came on the same day the John Jay College of Criminal Justice released a report about enforcement of quality of life crimes from 2003 to 2013 which found a “need to reexamine the role of government in responding to very low-level violations of the law.”

According to the report, 16-17 year-olds in the Bronx had the highest summons-issuance rate with a peak in 2006 of 25 percent, before dropping to 9.7 percent by 2013. The Bronx also had the highest rate of summonses for people 35 years or older, from a peak in 2003 of 13 percent, to 5.4 in 2013.

For 18-20 year-olds, the highest summon-issuance rate was in Manhattan, with a peak in 2006 of 27.1 percent, before dropping to 15.5 percent in 2013.

Last year, the most number of summonses were issued in Manhattan: 20,288. Brooklyn was in second, with 18,773, then the Bronx, with 15,267, then Queens with 13,375, and Staten Island, with just 2,199.”