Court Rejects NYC Police Union Effort to Block Stop-and-Frisk Settlements

The last roadblock to ending the program.

A federal appeals court shot down the police unions' attempt to block the city's settlement of the "stop and frisk" case against the NYPD on Friday, the last roadblock to Mayor de Blasio's bid to overhaul use of the controversial police tactic.

The unanimous Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling also allows the city to drop its appeal of rulings by Manhattan Federal Court Judge Shira Scheindlin that the NYPD unconstitutionally discriminated against minorities with the stops, and allows many of her recommended widespread reforms of the controversial practice to move forward.

"Now, after the unions' unnecessary obstructionism, all New Yorkers can work together to end racially discriminatory policing and bring meaningful reform and accountability to the NYPD," said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented many of the plaintiffs in the case.