NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION 2014 ANNUAL REPORT

NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
2014 ANNUAL REPORT

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CREDITS
Writer: Jessica Griffin
Design: Marc Loresto
Select Photos: Donna Aceto
New York Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, Floor 19
New York, NY 10004
212.607.3300
www.nyclu.org
I hope as you read the following pages that you share
my pride in our progress and the historic victories we
earned in 2014. We won our historic right-to-counsel
lawsuit with a settlement that provides a model for both
statewide and nationwide reform. We also achieved
unprecedented reforms that will save thousands of
state prisoners from the torture of solitary confinement
and, in New York City, helped win the first ever policy
reform that will protect Rikers Island prisoners younger
than 21 from solitary confinement as well.
These were huge victories a long time in the making,
and they illustrate the unique role the NYCLU plays in
New York. We are the only organization that could have
secured these reforms – we achieved them through our distinctive multi-faceted statewide
litigation, advocacy, public education and lobbying program.
As I reflect on the impact of our accomplishments, I am struck once again by both the depth
and reach of our work. I think about a low-income father in Suffolk County who had to wait
months in jail before even speaking to his public defense attorney and I am grateful others
won’t have to experience the same misery because of the settlement in our Hurrell-Harring
case. And I remember how we protected a 72-year-old retired New York City school teacher’s
right to protest the Eric Garner decision and stand up against all of the racially biased policing
she’s witnessed in her lifetime.
We cheered when our case against UPS resulted in justice for Julie Desantis-Mayer, a pregnant
driver who was forced to take unpaid leave and then lost her health insurance after her doctor
recommended that she not lift heavy packages on the job. And we breathed a sigh of relief
when the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the New York City law mandating transparency by
crisis pregnancy centers, anti-choice “clinics” that masquerade as medical offices.
Because of the NYCLU, students in Syracuse like Trevon Hanks and Andre Epps will be able
to go to school free from the fear of being shot with a police Taser gun, immigrant youth
who have fled crises at home will face fewer obstacles when they try to enroll in school and
more New York students can learn in a positive and respectful school climate that respects all
youth, regardless of their race, gender, immigration or LGBTQ status.
Above all, we advanced the cause of justice for all – for every single New Yorker.
Thank you – our donors and activists – for your generous and steadfast support. The
incredible work you will see in this report is only made possible by your passion, participation
and dedication. As we forge ahead in another new year, we will stay true to the values that
define our work, and the people who are at the heart of it all.
Cheers,
Donna Lieberman

TABLE OF CONTENTS
MISSION
PROGRAMS
5 Right to Legal Representation – Fulfilling Gideon’s Promise
7 Police Reform – Achieving Fair and Just Policing for All New Yorkers
9 Prisoners Rights – Demanding Humane Conditions
11 Education Reform – Keeping Students in School and out of Handcuffs
13 Reproductive Justice and Women’s Equality
15 LGBT Equality – Beyond Marriage: The Road to Full Inclusion
17 Immigrants’ Rights – An End to Illegal Detention and Abusive Labor Practices
19 Speech, Assembly and Religion – Preventing the Erosion of Core Freedoms
21 Privacy and Technology – Safeguarding Personal Content and Freedoms
22 National Security – Challenging Unchecked Government Spying
23 Youth Programs – Inspiring the Next Generation of Changemakers
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is dedicated to defending civil
liberties and civil rights.
Founded in 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties
Union, we are a non-for-profit nonpartisan organization with eight chapters and
regional offices and nearly 50,000 members across the state.
Our mission is to defend and promote the fundamental principles and values
embodied in the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution and the New York
Constitution.
25 SUPPORTERS
28 FINANCIALS
29 NYCLU STAFF AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

RIGHT TO LEGAL
REPRESENTATION
FULFILLING GIDEON’S PROMISE
>
#WheelOfJustice
In its 1963 decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that states
must provide a lawyer to every poor person accused of a crime. But across
much of New York, people without financial means often go before the courts
undefended and alone. They languish in jail and lose their jobs, homes and
families in the process.
After seven years of litigation, more than 70 depositions, an endorsement from
the Department of Justice and editorials from every major newspaper in New
York, the NYCLU celebrated the historic settlement of Hurrell-Harring v. New York,
a groundbreaking lawsuit that addresses New York’s failure to create and support
a public defense system that ensures indigent criminal defendants receive
meaningful and effective assistance of counsel. Filed on behalf of five counties,
this settlement lays the foundation for statewide reform.
On October 21, the NYCLU and Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP settled their classaction
lawsuit challenging the state’s failing public defense system in five
counties – Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Suffolk and Washington.
The lawsuit charged that New York State’s decision to abdicate responsibility for
public defense to its counties resulted in a patchwork of poorly resourced and
largely dysfunctional public defense systems where defendants were routinely
arraigned without attorneys, urged to take plea bargains regardless of the facts of
their cases, burdened by excessively high bail and incarcerated for petty crimes.
There is still a lot of work ahead to enforce this settlement. The state is now
obligated to spend $4 million over the next two years to increase attorney
contact with poor criminal defendants, promote the use of investigators and
experts and improve the qualifications, training and supervision of lawyers
representing poor defendants. Because of the agreement, the state will:
Additional Highlights
• Released the report “State of
Injustice: How New York State
Turns its Back on the Right
to Counsel for the Poor” in
September, which documents
the real stories of poor and often
innocent New Yorkers who are
forced through the system and
sent to jail undefended and alone.
• Endorsed by the Justice
Department, which for the first
time in more than 50 years
weighed in on public defense
in a state court proceeding by
submitting a statement of interest
in Hurrell-Harring v. New York.
• Briefed legislators, advocates
and other stakeholders about the
NYCLU’s litigation regarding the
state’s failure to provide effective
counsel to indigent defendants and
organized public forums on the
indigent defense system at Albany
Law School and at the Association
of the Bar of New York City.
The NYCLU’s Wheel of Justice Campaign – complete with
a travelling Wheel of Fortune-style game that could also
be played online – called on Governor Cuomo to end the
state’s failure to provide effective attorneys to poor New
Yorkers accused of crimes. Nearly 18,000 emails went out
to state leaders calling for reform.
As the wheel traveled across the state, we invited New
Yorkers to take a spin and learn that justice is a gamble,
and how much members of their community lose because
of the state’s broken public defense system. All the game
outcomes recount the true stories of real New Yorkers
whose lives have been impacted because they did not have
access to adequate legal representation.
• Ensure that every poor criminal defendant will have a lawyer at the first
court appearance, where bail is often set and pleas taken;
• Published editorials in every major
newspaper statewide.
• Set caseload standards that will substantially limit the number of cases a
lawyer can carry and ensure that defendants get a real defense;
• Mandate uniform eligibility standards for representation, allowing more
New Yorkers access to public defense services; and
• Strengthen the Office of
Indigent Legal Services as a
state-level oversight agency
tasked with ensuring the
constitutional provision of
public defense services.
• Filed a friend of the court brief
in three cases challenging the
Queens District Attorney’s
program of diverting people
accused of crimes into an
interrogation room before they are
arraigned or have seen an attorney.
The New York Court of Appeals
struck down the program, which
overwhelmingly affected lowincome
people of color and denied
them their right to counsel and the
right to a prompt court appearance
after arrest.
Jacqueline Winbrone was held
in Syracuse on $10,000 bail for
a crime she didn’t commit. She
called her attorney for five days
straight but he did not respond.
Winbrone’s husband died during
the 50 days she was in custody
awaiting trial. Her lawyer failed
to notify her when the case was
ultimately dismissed.
> Suffolk County resident Donald Telfair was brutally assaulted by a group of
individuals who mistakenly thought he had robbed them. The assault was so
severe that Telfair was hospitalized overnight for multiple procedures, and
his fractured jaw was wired shut. Telfair met his lawyer at his arraignment
the next day – in front of the judge and prosecutor. His attorney didn’t ask
him any questions about what had happened or about his criminal history.
When the prosecutor made blatant errors by mischaracterizing his history,
Telfair’s attorney failed to protest. Telfair had to address the court himself
– with his jaw wired shut. Unable to post bail, Telfair languished in jail for
months, until he took a plea bargain for one-and-a-half to three years.
Kimberly Hurrell-Harring, lead plaintiff in
Hurrell-Harring v. New York.
5 6

POLICE
REFORM
ACHIEVING FAIR AND JUST POLICING FOR ALL NEW YORKERS
#BlackLivesMatter
#Justice4EricGarner
Achieving fair and just policing for all New Yorkers has been a cornerstone of the NYCLU’s work for decades. This year, the
NYCLU built on last year’s wins in our case Ligon v. City of New York and the Center for Constitutional Rights’ Floyd v. City of
New York case. We played a leading role in the momentous movement to reform the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices and
aggressive policing of low-level, non-violent offenses, such as those that caused the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
In the wake of the recent Michael Brown and Eric Garner decisions, the NYCLU
has redoubled our efforts to reform police practices. We are pressing for the
public release of the proceedings that failed to indict the officer responsible for
Eric Garner’s death.
Campaign to End Discriminatory Policing
In 2013, the NYCLU celebrated a victory in our case Ligon v. City of New York,
which successfully challenged the NYPD’s enforcement of Operation Clean Halls,
a part of the stop-and-frisk program that allowed police to patrol certain private
apartment buildings. We also applauded the Floyd v. City of New York decision,
which found New York liable for discriminatory stops. This year, the NYCLU
defended its victory and the victory of the Floyd team and filed a joint motion
to oppose the police unions’ intervention in both cases. This past October, the
courts cleared the path for settlement and reform.
We also applauded the introduction of the two remaining provisions of the
original Community Safety Act package, now named the Right to Know
Act. These bills would require that the NYPD adopt practices that are more
transparent during street stops.
Even with the sharp decline in stop-and-frisks, police are still selectively and
excessively responding to minor infractions. The NYPD continues to engage
in “Broken Windows” policing that creates conflict between police and the
communities they are supposed to protect. Even worse, this aggressive policing
can lead to tragedies like the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
The NYCLU sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor
Bill de Blasio proposing a platform for statewide and citywide police reform
focusing on de-escalation of policing practices and meaningful accountability for
police wrongdoing. If followed, it can end some of the worst abuses of Broken
Windows policing.
Additional Highlights
• Led Know Your Rights workshops
about interacting with police.
• Pressed New York’s attorney general
to investigate “shop-and-frisk” and
the role the NYPD played in a series
of incidents in which black shoppers
were targeted for searches and
arrests at department stores.
• Maintained a successful effort to
urge Governor Cuomo tso veto a bill
that limits the ability of local officials
to discipline police officers.
• Provided guidance,
recommendations and model
policies to inform pilot programs
equipping the NYPD and other New
York police departments with body
cameras.
• Testified before New York City
Council on use of force tactics such
as chokeholds and the importance of
increased data collection.
• Worked with The Daily News to
publish a front page, in-depth
analysis of the race of people who
receive criminal court summonses
for low-level violations.
• Published public education materials
illustrating the consequences of lowlevel
marijuana arrests in New York.
Through our chapter network and legislative department, we continue to call for
statewide police department policy, training and oversight throughout the state
to ensure that this type of tragedy – along with too many others – never happens
again.
The NYCLU has also played a distinct role in championing protestors’ rights. We
coordinated or helped to organize demonstrations statewide and trained and
deployed monitors to legal observe and protect participants’ rights.
7 8

PRISONERS’
RIGHTS
DEMANDING HUMANE CONDITIONS
#HumanityIsTheNewBlack
Extreme isolation, or solitary confinement, is the one of the most severe and inhumane forms of punishment used in the
U.S. Long-term solitary confinement is cruel, expensive and ineffective. Isolation creates and exacerbates symptoms of
mental illness in prisoners – or even causes it in prisoners who were healthy when they entered solitary, undermining
successful re-entry into society and jeopardizing public safety. While in isolation, prisoners receive no educational or
transitional programming, leaving them less prepared to rejoin society.
GUARANTEEING HUMANE PRISON CONDITIONS
The NYCLU, with the support of mental health professionals, has long opposed
the excessive imposition of solitary confinement, especially on young people and
other vulnerable inmates.
In 2014, we reached a historic interim agreement in our class-action lawsuit,
Peoples v. Fischer, which challenged New York’s use of solitary confinement. This
unprecedented agreement led New York State to become the largest prison
system in the country prohibiting its use on prisoners younger than 18 and
reflects a shared commitment by the NYCLU and Department of Community
Corrections to a collaborative process that will reduce New York’s use of extreme
isolation.
In early 2015, the New York City Board of Correction followed suit and instituted
new, nationally unprecedented rules for New York City. The new rules – strongly
endorsed by the NYCLU – include:
• Prohibition of solitary confinement for people 21 and younger and people
with certain disabilities;
• Prohibition of solitary confinement for more than 30 consecutive days for a
single infraction; and
• No more than 60 days of solitary confinement total in a six-month period.
Once implemented, they will represent the most progressive reforms to solitary
confinement in the country.
Additional Highlights
• Joined New York City Council and
Jails Action Coalition members
to call for reform at Rikers Island
following a Department of Justice
report uncovering abuse of
juveniles;
• Testified in support of a law that
will bring transparency to the
practice of solitary confinement
on Rikers Island, and a law that will
end “carryover” solitary sentences.
Both bills passed; and
• Provided the New York City
Council with recommendations for
ensuring equal access to education
for adolescents on Rikers,
including out-of-cell education for
youth in solitary confinement.
• Led advocacy efforts that resulted
in the defeat of a bill that would
have made Queens County the
exclusive venue for addressing
criminal matters that arise at
Rikers Island. The bill was intended
to protect guards at Rikers from
rigorous criminal prosecution.
• Forced Erie County to unseal
reports on the conditions in its jails
after a two-year investigation by
the Department of Justice revealed
evidence of staff-prisoner violence
and sexual misconduct between
staff and incarcerated people, along
with an inadequate monitoring
system to prevent suicide at the
facilities.
This summer, the NYCLU launched a public education
campaign to shine a light on the horrendous conditions
in Suffolk County’s jails, including Riverhead Correctional
Facility, where a scene from the popular Netflix series
Orange is the New Black was filmed.
In 2012, the NYCLU and the law firm of Shearman &
Sterling LLP filed a lawsuit against Suffolk County on
behalf of prisoners–often not convicted of any crime–who
are forced to live amidst overflowing sewage, chronic
overcrowding, rodent and insect infestations, pervasive
mold and rust, and other deplorable and dehumanizing
conditions.
Orange is the New Black shines an important spotlight on the hardships and indignities
of prison life. But sometimes real life is too horrific for television. At the real OITNB jail:
• A feces flood lasted 30 hours
• Pipes leak asbestos and air reeks of feces, urine and mold
• Brown drinking water causes stomach aches, cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
As part of the campaign, New Yorkers wore orange to
advocate for an end to the abusive conditions, sent
thousands of emails to Suffolk County public officials to
tell them to clean up their jails, and got involved on social
media. The campaign was supported by many OITNB cast
members and Piper Kerman, whose experiences in prison
inspired the show. It helped spark a national conversation
in pop culture on prison reform.
County officials have allowed the horrendous conditions to persist for years. The NYCLU first filed a lawsuit against
Suffolk County on behalf of 100 detainees in its jails April 2012. Instead of fixing the disgusting and inhumane
conditions, the county has been fighting tooth and nail.
9 10

EDUCATION
REFORM
KEEPING STUDENTS IN SCHOOLS AND OUT OF HANDCUFFS
#SolutionsNotSuspensions
Good schools do more than keep students safe from physical harm; they provide
children with the support they need to learn and thrive. Students who are
arrested even once drop out twice as often as other students. Yet too often, zerotolerance
suspension policies and harsh discipline pushes young people out of
the classroom and into the criminal justice system. This School to Prison Pipeline
undermines students’ academic success and eventual economic independence.
The most vulnerable students – those with special needs and low-income black
and Latino youth – withstand the worst of these policies.
NEW TASER GUIDELINES IN SYRACUSE: Trevon Hanks and Andre Epps were
students when they both suffered unwarranted, painful Taser shocks at the hands
of school resource officers who are members of the Syracuse Police Department.
“My whole body was vibrating
and stinging and I couldn’t move
– it was the worst pain I’ve ever
felt in my life,” said Hanks, now a
student at Monroe Community
College in Rochester. “I was
terrified and screaming, but he
kept hurting me. School should
be a safe place for kids. I don’t
want anyone else to go through
the pain I experienced.”
In December 2014, the NYCLU
reached an agreement in the lawsuit
we filed on behalf of Hanks and Epps
in 2010 challenging Taser abuse in city
schools. As a result of the settlement,
the Syracuse Police Department has
agreed to new rules governing the use
of Tasers.
The lawsuit charged that the repeated
abuse of Tasers in Syracuse schools
was the inevitable result of the city’s
failure to train police officers about the
difference between street policing and
safety for children in schools. The new policy includes specific restrictions against
the use of Tasers on juveniles, the elderly and pregnant women and requires an
immediate investigation of any Taser use against these vulnerable populations.
CELL PHONE BAN LIFTED: We also commended the de Blasio administration
for announcing the end of the cell phone ban in New York City public schools,
which will take effect in March 2015. The cell phone ban has imposed enormous
burdens on parents and children who need to be able to communicate with each
other before students arrive home from school. Cell phones have also been a
needless flashpoint of confrontation between children and the police personnel
who work in their schools.
Trevon Hanks was shot by a Taser three
times on his 16th birthday.
Additional Highlights
• Organized a successful
demonstration outside of the
October 2014 meeting of the New
York City Panel for Educational
Policy to call on it to address use
of force in schools after a fiveyear-old
special needs student was
handcuffed at his Bronx school.
• Trained hundreds of students on
what to do if police stop them and
distributed thousands of Know
Your Rights materials to students,
teachers and allied organizations.
• Presented Dignity for All Students
Act workshops to school principals
and educators focused on the rights
of transgender and gender-nonconforming
youth.
• Represented students at suspension
hearings and successfully overturned
their unjust suspensions.
• Participated in the State Education
Department’s (NYSED) New York
State Safe Schools Task Force and
led statewide seminars on improving
school climate.
• Organized and facilitated an Albany
youth summit with NYSED in
February of 2014.
• Submitted testimony and legal
memos to the New York City Council
in support of Student Safety Act
amendments.
A New Vision for Student Safety
The NYCLU leads the Student Safety Coalition (SSC), a
coalition that works to end the New York City School
to Prison Pipeline. The SSC worked to pass the Student
Safety Act, a data transparency bill, in 2010 and is now
working with the City Council to make important changes
to the current law. More complete data allows us to better
understand the problems students face, which is the first
step toward addressing key issues and creating a safer
environment for all students.
The Student Safety Act requires quarterly public reporting
from the Department of Education and the NYPD on the
use of suspensions, summonses and arrests in schools. This
data allows the NYCLU and other advocates to study the
impact of current disciplinary practices and encourage the
creation of more effective procedures. The SSC continues
to work to promote increased data transparency, and has
drafted amendments to the Student Safety Act that would
close existing loopholes in the law.
In October 2013, the SSC also launched a “New Vision
for School Safety,” principles for restructuring the flawed
memorandum of understanding between the New York
City Department of Education and the NYPD that governs
school safety operations.
Over the past year, we have organized convenings with
advocacy partners, members of the new administration
and City Council members to develop a unified strategy
for work on the School to Prison Pipeline and to educate
elected officials about the New Vision for School Safety and
developments in the field.
The NYCLU Teen Activist Project presents at a State Education Department summit on school climate in Albany.
11 12

REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE & WOMEN’S EQUALITY
#Stand4Women
The NYCLU supports the ability of both men and women to make meaningful
decisions about their reproductive health care. This includes not only the right to
decide when and whether to have a child, but building a society in which people
have access to the information and services to make informed decisions.
Too many women in New York are forced to choose between their health and
their paychecks. Employers push pregnant workers out of their jobs or force them
to take unpaid leave when they request a modest accommodation at work. The
NYCLU and our coalition partners support legislation that would explicitly require
employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers.
UPS PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION CASE: The NYCLU and ACLU recently
settled a case against UPS on behalf of Julie Desantis-Mayer. Julie, a pregnant
driver from Suffolk County, was forced to take unpaid leave and then lost her
health insurance after her doctor recommended that she not lift packages
weighing more than 25 pounds. The settlement followed an announcement
by UPS that it is changing its policy to provide accommodations for pregnant
employees.
TRANSPARENCY MANDATE AT CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS: Thanks to
advocacy efforts by the NYCLU, the U.S. Court of Appeals recently upheld the
central provisions of a New York City law mandating transparency by crisis
pregnancy centers, anti-choice “clinics” that masquerade as medical offices. Crisis
pregnancy centers often engage in tactics that delay time-sensitive medical care
including abortion, emergency contraception and prenatal care, compromising
the health and safety of women. The New York City law is carefully designed to
remedy this problem, without interfering with First Amendment rights, and was
upheld by the court.
Julie Desantis-Mayer, former UPS employee.
Advocating for the Women’s Equality Agenda
The NYCLU is a leader in the Women’s Equality Coalition, which includes more than two dozen statewide organizations
as well as 850 local or regional organizations. Since 2013, we have led a campaign to pass legislation included in the
Women’s Equality Agenda that would update New York’s abortion law, improve protections against workplace and housing
discrimination and promote pay equity.
Abortion Care
Access to abortion is central to a woman’s ability to participate equally in society and
is a vital component of women’s health care. Yet New York law continues to regulate
abortion in our criminal code and does not have critical protections for women’s
health. In 2014, we once again urged the Senate to pass the full Women’s Equality
Agenda, including a bill that would safeguard reproductive rights for New York
women. If passed, the legislation would ensure that doctors can provide the medical
care pregnant women need to protect their health throughout pregnancy, including:
• Codifying in New York State law the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v.
Wade;
• Ensuring that a woman can get an abortion within 24 weeks of pregnancy, or
when necessary to protect her health;
• Ensuring that medical providers are not barred from providing care that is
within their training competency and scope of practice; and
• Retaining those provisions in state laws that authorize the state to prosecute
those who harm pregnant women.
The bill did not pass the Senate, but the NYCLU will continue to pursue alternative
strategies to secure critical reproductive rights protections for all women in New York.
Public Education
about Contraception
Coverage
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s
decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby
Stores, Inc., the NYCLU is working to
ensure New York meets reproductive
health care mandates that are part of
state and federal health care reform.
We inform New York employers and
employees about how the Hobby Lobby
decision and similar cases affect their
ability to provide and access affordable
reproductive health care; and we
are continuing efforts to ensure that
insurance plans in New York provide
the contraceptive coverage required by
the Affordable Care Act.
Paid Family Leave
As a leader of the steering committee
for the Paid Family Leave campaign,
the NYCLU helped draft legislation;
lobbied legislators; released a memo
in support of the bill and organized a
teach-in. Although the bill did not pass
the Senate, it passed the Assembly for
the first time, and our efforts tripled
the number of Senate co-sponsors.
Comprehensive
Sex Education
Few young people in New York receive
the comprehensive, medically accurate,
age-appropriate sex education they
need. The NYCLU advocates for
state standards for accurate and age
appropriate sexual health instruction
taught in kindergarten through 12th
grade across New York State.
13 14

LGBT
EQUALITY
BEYOND MARRIAGE: THE ROAD TO FULL INCLUSION
Defense
#LGBTRights
The denial of rights and protections to LGBT individuals and their families
fundamentally undermines the freedom of all New Yorkers. The NYCLU and the
ACLU, as counsel to Edie Windsor, took down the discriminatory Defense of
Marriage Act in 2013 and tipped the first domino in a rapid series of victories for
the freedom to marry for same-sex couples across the nation.
We are thrilled that the Supreme Court has announced that it will hear the
ACLU’s Ohio and Kentucky freedom to marry cases in 2015. This could be the
breakthrough we have been waiting for – the right to marry for same-sex couples
might become the law of the land. The NYCLU is seizing this moment to ensure
discrimination against the LGBT community will be a thing of the past.
UPDATED BIRTH CERTIFICATE POLICY FOR TRANSGENDER NEW YORKERS:
After years of administrative advocacy by the NYCLU and other advocates,
New York State released a new policy in June 2014 that eases the burden on
transgender New Yorkers who seek to change the designation of gender on
their birth certificates. As a result, individuals are no longer required to undergo
surgery before seeking a change to their birth certificates. New York City has
separate control over birth certificates for people born in the city and – in
response to advocacy by the NYCLU and our partners – passed legislation that
also eliminates the surgery requirement. At the same time, we successfully
advocated for in a new state policy barring the exclusion of health insurance
coverage for all transition-related health care.
INSURERS MUST COVER GENDER REASSIGNMENT: The State Department
of Financial Services announced in December 2014 that private insurers can
no longer categorically exclude trans-related health care, and the New York
State Department of Health has proposed a new regulation that would end the
exclusion of transgender health care under New York’s Medicaid program. We
continue to work for equal access to health care and will monitor implementation
going forward.
Additional Highlights
• Lobbied for the enactment of
the Gender Expression Non-
Discrimination Act (GENDA), which
would extend basic civil rights
protections to transgender and
gender non-conforming people.
In response to the advocacy
of NYCLU and its partners,
Rochester expanded its definition
of discrimination in the city code
to include “gender identity and
expression”.
• Collected stories from transgender
and gender non-conforming
students about their experiences in
school as a way to monitor New York
State’s compliance with the Dignity
for All Students Act.
• Developed model policies for
creating safe and supportive school
environments for transgender and
gender nonconforming students for
use in advocacy across the state.
• Participated in Pride events across
the state and distributed Know Your
Rights materials.
• Helped develop and clarify New
York City Department of Education
guidance for respecting the rights of
transgender students.
• Worked with a coalition to
ensure that LGBT students in the
New York City schools are not
disproportionately impacted by
disciplinary action and the School to
Prison Pipeline.
of Liberty
Ridge Farm Victory
After the NYCLU represented a samesex
couple in the Capital Region, the
New York State Division of Human
Rights affirmed last year that it is illegal
for businesses to discriminate based on
sexual orientation. The NYCLU victory
came in the case of Melisa and Jennifer
McCarthy, whose wedding was
rejected by the owners of an Albany
area farm and wedding venue when
the owners found out that they were a
same-sex couple. We will soon defend
our 2014 victory in the McCarthy v.
Liberty Ridge Farm before the Appellate
Division, Third Department. The case
considers whether or not a commercial
wedding venue can use religion as an
excuse to discriminate against samesex
couples under the State Human
Rights Law.
This presents a major opportunity to
assure that same-sex couples have
equal access to the same public
accommodations as opposite sex
couples - yet another step towards
eliminating discrimination against
LGBT New Yorkers.
Respect for Every
Student’s Gender
Identity
We successfully advocated on behalf
of five transgender students across
the state who faced discrimination at
school because of their gender identity.
As a result, these schools began to
take steps to respect the students’
gender identity by, for instance,
agreeing to use the appropriate name
and pronouns, permitting access to
sex-segregated facilities based on the
student’s gender identity, or putting
an end to the enforcement of genderbiased
codes of behavior on gender
nonconforming students.
Melisa and Jennifer McCarthy, lead plaintiffs in McCarthy v. Liberty Ridge.
Faith Shepard, 2014 Homecoming King at Central Islip High School.
Gender Equality for Homecoming Queen and King
Faith Shepherd, a lesbian student at Central Islip High School, ran for and won
the title for Homecoming King as a statement for gender equality and to support
transgender individuals. Faith was proud of the support of her classmates who
elected her and believes she is helping to pave the way for people who identify
as the opposite sex.
After Faith’s victory, a local church group petitioned the school board to require
nominees for Homecoming King to be male and Homecoming Queen to be
female. The NYCLU sent a letter to the school board before the vote urging it to
reject the discriminatory policy.
15 16

IMMIGRANTS’
RIGHTS
AN END TO ILLEGAL DETENTION AND ABUSIVE LABOR PRACTICES
Farmworkers
#Immigration
Frequently targeted for persecution, immigrants have endured increased attacks
on their freedoms in recent years. Despite facing some of the greatest hardships
of any group, many immigrant communities have little access to resources and
policymakers frequently marginalize them. Our broken immigration system has
led to a civil rights and liberties crisis in New York and across the country.
BILL TO PROTECT UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS: Thanks to advocacy
by the NYCLU, at least 40 counties across the state have agreed to stop the
unconstitutional practice of imprisoning people without a warrant just so
federal agencies can investigate them for immigration purposes. And in New
York City, the government passed a groundbreaking law in October 2014 that
bans the NYPD and corrections department from honoring federal requests
to detain immigrants without a warrant. The legislation also evicts Immigration
and Customs Enforcement from its office at Rikers Island and prohibits the
Department of Corrections from expending resources to enforce civil immigration
laws.
New York City has now joined the ranks of Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago, and
more than 225 other local law enforcement agencies nationwide, in rejecting the
federal requests to detain immigrants unlawfully absent a judicial warrant.
IMMIGRATION STATUS IRRELEVANT AT SCHOOL ENROLLMENT: Our
October report criticizing the unlawful documentation requirements of dozens of
school districts prompted the State Education Department to adopt emergency
regulations that require school districts to ensure immigrant children can enroll
in school. Although we continue to receive reports from immigrant students
who struggle to enroll in school or who are warehoused in subpar “alternative
education centers”, the emergency regulation helps ensure that immigrant youth
can enroll in schools. We will continue to monitor practices across the state to
ensure that all children in New York have equal access to a quality education.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Despite all of our success at the state and local level, creating the most
meaningful changes requires comprehensive federal reform. The NYCLU, the
ACLU and our allies are mobilizing throughout the state and nationwide to make
sure Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform that includes:
• Limitations on the use of electronic verification programs to verify worker
identity;
• Due process for immigrants facing deportation;
• Federal preemption of state and local intrusions into immigration
enforcement;
• An end to warrantless federal requests for local law enforcement to detain
immigrants solely to investigate possible immigration issues;
• An end to abusive border patrol practices;
Additional Highlights
• Co-led the Customs and Border
Patrol Working Group, a consortium
of non-governmental organizations
across the country who meet
regularly with the leaders of
Customs and Border Patrol.
• Investigated a pattern of
unconstitutional stops, detentions and
arrests of immigrant residents by New
York state troopers and developed
policy recommendations to reduce
the instance of troopers enforcing civil
immigration law.
• Re-trained all border patrol officers
in the Buffalo and Swanton areas
on their language assistance policy
to help end the practice of officers
serving as language interpreters for
State Police.
• Advocated for due process rights of
unaccompanied immigrant children
placed in deportation proceedings in
New York.
• Continued to pursue our lawsuit
challenging a local ordinance
criminalizing the solicitation of work
from streets and sidewalks in the
Town of Oyster Bay, Long Island,
a law which targets immigrant day
laborers.
• Filed two friend of the court briefs in
the Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit asserting detainees’ right to a
bond hearing and to judicial review
in immigration proceedings.
Fair Labor Practices Act
The New York State Labor Relations Act excludes farm laborers from its
protected categories of workers, denying them rights given to other workers. The
Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act would amend the labor law by removing
farm laborers from the list of excluded workers.
We advocated for this bill with the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign, which
coordinated Farmworker Advocacy Day in Albany, and by holding a vigil in front
of Governor Cuomo’s New York City office. Although the bill did not make it out
of committee in the Senate, it passed the Assembly with overwhelming support.
New York City Municipal IDs
In early 2015, New York City began issuing new municipal ID cards, a step which
acknowledges the contribution and participation of immigrants, homeless people
and other marginalized communities in New York City life. The NYCLU supported
the program’s goals but expressed concerns about insufficient privacy protections
because it allows the city to store copies of sensitive, non-governmental identity
documents. Our outreach efforts persuaded the administration to include a
public reporting requirement in the legislation.
Mayor De Blasio signing bills to protect
undocumented immigrants.
• Limits on the use of solitary confinement for civil detainees; and
• A broad and inclusive path to citizenship.
17 18

SPEECH, ASSEMBLY
AND RELIGION
PREVENTING THE EROSION OF CORE FREEDOMS
#FreeSpeech
The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees to all Americans the freedom
of expression, the freedom of the press and the freedom of religion – supported
by the strict separation of church and state. Governments, police departments,
organizations and schools in New York regularly violate these core freedoms.
In the largest protest settlement in history, New York City has agreed to pay
nearly $18 million for the arrest, detention and fingerprinting of more than 1,800
protesters, bystanders, legal observers and journalists at the 2004 Republican
National Convention (RNC). The 2004 RNC prompted hundreds of thousands
of people to participate in lawful demonstrations in New York City. Despite the
peaceful nature of the gatherings and the First Amendment’s guarantee of the
right to protest, the NYPD engaged in mass arrests.
In early October 2004, the NYCLU filed the first two Convention lawsuits. One
(Schiller v. City of New York) arose out of the mass arrest of 226 people on a sidewalk
on Fulton Street near the World Trade Center and the other (Dinler v. City of New
York) out of the mass arrest of nearly 400 people on East 16th Street near Union
Square.
People who were arrested at the 2004 RNC.
> Plaintiff Hacer Dinler was a
fitness and dance instructor from
Brooklyn who was arrested en
route to dance class; she was
not involved in the protest. After
about two hours in confinement,
despite repeated pleas for help,
Dinler fainted and experienced
convulsions and had to be
hospitalized.
> Plaintiff Michael Schiller, a
documentarian working with
Andre 3000 for HBO, was
surrounded by police netting and
arrested while attempting to film
protesters from the sidewalk.
Settlement Protects Right to Film Police
in Suffolk County
In a June settlement, the Suffolk County Police Department agreed to annually
train and test all police officers on the First Amendment right of the public and
the media to observe, photograph and record police activity in public locations.
The settlement came in response to a lawsuit filed in 2012 by the NYCLU, the
law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and the National Press Photographers
Association (NPPA) on behalf of Philip Datz, a professional video journalist who
was unlawfully arrested and detained by Suffolk County police in July 2011 while
filming police activity on a public street in Bohemia, Long Island. The settlement
bolsters the ability of journalists and individuals to hold the police accountable,
keep the community informed, and ensure officers are treating Suffolk County
residents with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Salvation Army Settlement
The Salvation Army has agreed not to discriminate against beneficiaries of
government-funded social services or against employees administering those
services on the basis of religion. The March 2014 settlement finally ends a 2004
NYCLU lawsuit that challenged an effort by The Salvation Army to require social
workers and other employees in its government-funded social services programs
to disclose their religious affiliations and church-going practices and to abide by
The Salvation Army’s mission to provide services in accordance with “the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
> In People v. Mackey-Meggs, the
NYCLU challenged the conviction
of 16 year-old Marquan
Mackey-Meggs for violating an
Albany County law criminalizing
cyberbullying.
The New York State Court of
Appeals struck down Albany
County’s cyberbullying law in
July 2014, finding that it sweeps
too broadly and criminalizes
protected speech. This marks
one of the first times any state’s
highest court has insisted that
laws seeking to address the
problem of cyberbullying do
so with sensitivity and care to
ensure that such laws do not
needlessly punish constitutionally
protected speech.
Separation of Church and State in
Universal Pre-K Program
The NYCLU hailed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's universal prekindergarten
(UPK) program as an important step forward for the children
and families of New York. Secular and religious entities can administer these
programs. The NYCLU urged both city and state officials to ensure that
government-funded pre-k programs be barred from promoting religion or
engaging in religious discrimination in hiring or admission. We objected to city
guidelines that allow use of religious texts if they are “presented objectively as
part of a secular program of instruction.”
We will continue to monitor the programs in an effort to curtail unlawful
proselytizing or religiously based gender discrimination against LGBT New
Yorkers.
Public Schools No Longer Used for
Religious Services
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April 2014 that the New York City
Department of Education may bar churches from using public school facilities
for religious worship services, a decision the NYCLU applauded as a victory for
religious freedom. The decision came in Bronx Household v. Board of Education, a
case that began more than 18 years ago. We filed a friend of the court brief in
the case and strongly oppose public schools being converted into churches.
19 20

PRIVACY AND
TECHNOLOGY
SAFEGUARDING PERSONAL CONTENT AND FREEDOMS
NATIONAL
SECURITY
CHALLENGING UNCHECKED GOVERNMENT SPYING
Governments and corporations – sometimes working together – can single out anyone and track that
person’s movements, purchases, reading habits and even private conversations.
Ebola Quarantine Raises Civil Liberties Issues
Ebola emerged as a major public health issue in 2014, and the NYCLU endorsed
public health policy that was medically sound and appropriate to protect against
the risk of infection. The NYCLU worked with New York City officials to lift the
quarantines of three New Yorkers who had been in contact with an individual
who had been diagnosed with Ebola.
Following CDC guidelines, Department of Health officials then closely monitored
the individuals; none of them developed the disease.
Op-Ed: Government Going Beyond its
Authority with Ebola Quarantine
(NY Daily News)
October 27, 2014 — By Donna Lieberman
Ebola is a public health issue, and our policies should be driven by the best public
health practices — not politics.
Additional Highlights
• Sent the New York State
Department of Transportation
and the NYPD legal requests for
public information on how they
use E-ZPass readers to track and
record New Yorkers’ movements.
We filed the requests after press
reports documented the use
of E-ZPass readers to collect
information on law-abiding New
Yorkers far from toll plazas
• Successfully pressed the Ulster
County Department of Social
Services and sheriff to stop
running warrant checks on every
person who enters the social
services building to apply for help,
ask a question or report a problem.
Over the past decade, the fight against terrorism has served as a pretext for
serious attacks on civil liberties in New York and nationwide. New Yorkers have
a right to know how government and law enforcement are tracking them, and
we must hold the government accountable if it is unconstitutionally collecting
information on law-abiding people, especially when those people are engaged
in constitutionally protected activity such as participating in political or religious
gatherings.
The NYCLU commended the NYPD for shuttering in April 2014 the
Demographics Unit that created maps and collected information on Muslim
communities in the New York City area. Recognizing, however, that the Unit was
only one component of a much larger discriminatory surveillance program, we
continue to call for an end to the biased-based policing that has stigmatized New
York’s Muslim communities.
In the ongoing case of Raza v. City of New York, the NYCLU, ACLU and the
Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility project at CUNY
Law School challenge the NYPD’s profiling and surveillance of Muslims without
criminal suspicion and merely because of their religion. We hope to achieve
systemic reforms that will end the NYPD’s baseless and unjust spying program.
> CELL PHONE MONITORING:
We sued the Erie County Sheriff’s
Office this past November after
they failed to respond to our legal
requests for information about their
use of devices to track and record
New Yorkers’ locations via their
cell phones. The Sheriff’s Office
has reportedly used mobile devices
known as “stingrays” to pick up
signals from all cell phones and
wireless devices within a given area,
tracking particular phones, locating
people within their own home, at a
political protest or in a church.
Happily, that is what Mayor de Blasio and other New York City officials have been
doing. They responded based on facts, not fear.
However, quarantines, like all involuntary detentions, raise significant civil liberties
concerns.
They’re justified in some circumstances, but they must be limited to when they are
needed to address genuine public health concerns. This is a serious intrusion on
individual liberty that should be as narrow as possible.
To quarantine an individual who medical experts say is not contagious, and does not
put other people’s health at risk, is beyond the legitimate scope of the government’s
authority.
The New York-New Jersey quarantine is not limited to people who are infectious
and should be modified so it addresses the important public health concern that
we all share in preventing infection, but does not needlessly or excessively subject
individuals to severe restrictions on their liberty.
This protects both the individual and the greater good as the collateral consequences
of excessive and overly broad use of quarantines may undermine the health interests
they are supposed to serve — demonizing heroic health workers and discouraging
them from participating in the worldwide and local efforts to stop Ebola.
> FACEBOOK LAWSUITS OVER
SEARCH WARRANTS: The
NYCLU filed a friend of the court
brief in support of Facebook in
a lawsuit that may have broad
implications for social media
privacy in New York. In July 2013,
a judge issued warrants authorizing
the Manhattan District Attorney’s
office to direct Facebook to
produce electronic data – including
private messages, photographs
and comments from the accounts
of 381 Facebook subscribers.
The court further imposed a gag
order prohibiting Facebook from
notifying users of the existence
of these warrants. Facebook
challenged the warrants and the
gag order, and we supported
Facebook, arguing that the
information we share on social
media should receive the highest
level of protection.
ACLU & NYCLU v. Clapper: Challenge
to NSA’s Mass Call-Tracking Program
The ACLU and the NYCLU continue to pursue our lawsuit challenging the federal
government‘s recently disclosed program of collecting information about every
domestic telephone call made by Americans. We contend the blanket collection
of metadata about Americans’ phone calls violates the Patriot Act provision that
authorizes limited collection of such information and violates the Fourth and First
amendments. In December 2013, a federal judge denied our motion for a preliminary
injunction and granted the government’s motion to dismiss, and we appealed. Oral
arguments took place in September 2014 at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in
Manhattan, and we continue to wait for a decision from that case.
21 22

YOUTH
PROGRAMS
INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF CHANGEMAKERS #BWay4Freedom
The Teen Activists Project (TAP) engages New York City teens as organizers
and peer educators on civil rights and civil liberties. The group of about 20 high
school students from all five boroughs meets weekly at the NYCLU offices to
learn about and discuss civil liberties and legal issues, reproductive justice, public
speaking and activism. To recruit this year’s new TAP members, we reached out
to schools, parent coordinators, guidance counselors, community organizations
and youth organizations and received a record number of applications. As a
result, TAP is more diverse and stronger than ever.
Everyday Activism:
Taking Action in NY
Each year TAP members complete an
advocacy project. This year, the group
completed a story collection project,
“Everyday Activism: Taking Action in
NY,” which highlighted New Yorkers’
personal experiences with a variety
of civil liberties and social justice
issues. Their interviews highlighted
LGBT rights, racial justice, students’
rights, the School to Prison Pipeline,
farmworkers rights and women’s
equality, and connected those issues
to current NYCLU campaigns and
resources.
The 12th Annual Broadway Stands Up for Freedom benefit concert was another
smash hit. A cast of Broadway’s finest performed, including Tony Award-winner
Lena Hall, Drama Desk-winner and Tony Award-nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger
and Tony Award-nominees Condola Rashad and Robin de Jesus. The stars took
the stage at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
to celebrate the work of the NYCLU. Proceeds support our youth programs,
including our work with LGBT teenagers, Teen Activist Project and efforts to
stop overly aggressive policing and zero-tolerance discipline in New York’s public
schools.
Freedom of Expression Contest
The Freedom of Expression contest invites New York City youth to express their
creativity and share their thoughts and feelings on civil rights and liberties issues
that are relevant in today’s society and in their own lives. More than 150 students
submitted essays, poetry, art and multi-media entries in response to the prompt
“The major civil rights issue of my generation is…” All winning submissions were
displayed at Broadway Stands Up for Freedom, and select pieces were featured
on stage during the concert.
Lena Hall, Tony Award-winner for her
performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
The 2015 Teen Activist Project (TAP) members.
Teen Activist Project participant Jensine
Raihan with Director of the ACLU LGBT &
AIDS Project James Esseks (left) following
their speeches at our annual LGBT
Reception. Photo credit: Donna Aceto
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Tony Awardnominee
for her roles in The Glass
Menagerie and Peter and the Starcatcher.
Photo credit: Donna Aceto
“Freedom” by Emily Arlantico, age 15, First Place winner in the 2014 Freedom of Expression
Contest Visual Arts category.
NYCLU teen activists organized in front of the ferry station from Manhattan to Staten Island,
where Eric Garner lived and died. They distributed educational materials in English and Spanish to
inform people about their rights if they are stopped by the police.
The NYCLU Teen Activist Project was invited
to take part in a community-driven art
exhibit about activism at the New Museum.
23 24

OUR LEADING SUPPORTERS
The NYCLU is deeply grateful to our generous donors whose support enables the ACLU and NYCLU to protect and advance
civil liberties. With the partnership of these individuals, corporations, and foundations, we are fulfilling the promise of justice,
liberty, and equality for all New Yorkers. This listing reflects gifts received between January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2014.
$100,000 or more
$50,000 - $99,000
$25,000 - $49,000
$5,000 - $9,999
Anonymous (4)
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Anonymous (6)
1199 SEIU United Healthcare
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Georgette Bennett
Charles E. Bieber
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David Dechman
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Shirley Evenitsky
Richard E. Feldman
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Amy Goldman
Kamaldeep Grewal
ESTATE GIFTS
Estate of Arnold H. Agree
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Howard Betts Trust
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Anonymous (3)
Frederick and Jutta Benenson
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Fund for Fair and Just Policing in New York City
of Tides Foundation
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FJC, A Foundation of Donor Advised Funds
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Stonewall Community Foundation
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Edwin Adlerman
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$2,500 - $4,999
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Allen & Overy LLP
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Margaret Karpatkin, M.D. and the estate of
Simon Karpatkin, M.D.
Amin Kassam and Adam Mundy
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The New York Community Trust -
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25 26

DESILVER LEGACY SOCIETY
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
The NYCLU gratefully acknowledges the foresight of its DeSilver Legacy Society members who have generously planned for
a future bequest. Their extraordinary support and deep commitment to civil liberties will help fulfill the NYCLU’s vision of
freedom, fairness, and equality in the years to come.
Statement of Activities for New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc. and New York Civil Liberties Union, Inc.
Year Ended March 31, 2014.
Anonymous (74)
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Florence Gold
Rita Gold
Deborah T. Goldberg
Joshua Goldberg
Sherwin M. Goldman
Nancy Goldstein and Joan Hilty
Grace Goodman
Janice Goodman
Beatrice Gottlieb
Jo Ann Greenberg
Edmund and Arlene Grossman
Carl E. and Renee C. Gutman
Dr. Helen Mayer Hacker
Hannelore Hahn
Michael Hall
Robert J. Hammerslag
Norman Handelman and Helen
Goldberg
Wendy Harris
Andrew Hart
Mary Louise Hartenstein
Leon Harvey
Susan Harwig
Anthony Heilbut
Margaret W. Henry Trust
Susan Herman and Paul Gangsei
Amy Herren
Richard Heyl de Ortiz and
Anthony Ortiz
Lee J. Hilton
Martin and Mildred Hird
William F. Hirt
Terry Hockler
Mark A Hogarth
Maya Horn and Michele Singer
Derrick C. Hughes
David Jarrett
Robert and Kathe Jervis
Peter Johnson
Yvonne Johnson
Robert G. Jones
Nancy E. Jones
Mary S. Kahn
Margaret Karpatkin, M.D. and the
estate of Simon Karpatkin, M.D.
Rhoda Karpatkin
Phyllis and Abe Karrass
Norton Cohen
Kevin Keenan
Anne Kelemen
Dr. Ernece B. Kelly
Lita and Emanuel Kelmenson
Miriam Kerpen
Bernard and Sondra Kleinman
Peter Klosterman
Austa Ilene Koes
Judi Komaki
Estelle Kuhn
Herbert Kurz
Max Lais and Lisa Templeton
Jeffrey G. Leeds
Robert Leuze
E. Betty Levin
Arthur H. Levinson
H. Richard Levy
Richard Lipsitz and Rita Lipsitz
Shirley Lipsky
Douglas O. Maass
Victoria MacKnight
Stan Main
Robert M. Mains and Amy Durland
Milton Mankoff
Al Marcus
David Martin
George E. Martin
Barbara Martinsons
Geraldine Maslanka and
Lee Marshall
Mr. and Mrs. Gregg Mayer
Charlotte Mayerson
Jean M. McCarroll
Robert McCarthy, Jr.
Mary McCorry
Robert B. Johnson
Donna McKay
Tom McKitterick
Carole Mehlman
Gabrielle Mellett
Linda Merman
Charles W. Merrels
Arnold E. Messner
Ann Breen Metcalfe
Andrea R. Meyer
Peter Meysenburg
Margaret L. Moody
Richard Morrill
Stephen W. Mosley
Minne R. Motz
Ursula Newton
Jeffrey P. Nieznanski
Carol Noymer
Mr. Obrist
Charles Turner O'Neal
Mona Osipova
Daphne O'Sullivan
Wayne and Virginia Outten
Jeffrey Paley
John and Faith Parker
Dr. William H. Pittman
Frances Fox Piven
Albert Podell
Michael and Victoria Pohlmann
Dr. Betty Popper
Edmund F. Dejowski and
Don A. Powell
John Henry Prahler
Jay Rashkin
J.F. Reilly
Denise Rickles
Anthony D. Romero
Ethel Romm
Miriam Rosen
Richard and Margery Rosen
Marion J. Ross
Marie Henderson Rothman
Scott Safier and Champ Knecht
Mark and Rita Sakitt
Steve Saunders
Homer D. and Nora Schaaf
Roy Schafer
Jack Schlegel
Jerome and Elizabeth Schneewind
Elliot P. Schuman
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Seiden
Ronald Seidman
In memory of Dr. Irving Shapiro
Karen Shatzkin
Joan Shaw
Robert J. Shaw
Irwin and Barbara Sicherman
Donald Siebold
Maury Silver and Judith Stivelband
Bickley Simpson
Eve Sinaiko
John Singler
Marjorie M. Smith
Victoria Stewart
Nadine Strossen and Eli M. Noam
Ronald Tabak
Henry Taplitz and Edward Cohen
John Teffenhart
Walt Townes
Florindo J. Troncelliti
Joseph Tully
James Simonis and Ralph Valente
Jeffrey E. Vessels
Julius Vingerelli
Donald Wade
Robert A. Walker
John Walley
Mr. and Mrs. William L. Walter
Sylvia M. Warren
Susan F. Weber
Marshall Weinberg
Norman R. West
Stephen I. Widlitz, Esq.
Duane E. Wilder
Michael Wolf
Ellen and Joe Wong
Willie K. Yee, M.D.
Richard Zack
Susan Zilber
Daan Zwick and Janis Dowd
New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc.
Income
Contributions
Foundation Grants
Legal Fee Awards
All Other Income
Transfer to Reserves
Total
New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc.
Income
11%
Foundation Grants
24%
Legal Fee Awards
Income
9%
All Other Income
56%
Contributions
New York Civil Liberties Union, Inc.
24%
Foundation Grants
31%
Contributions
4,310,667
852,891
1,805,449
673,620
1,650,916
5,991,711
45%
Membership
Expenses
Program Services
Administration and General
Fundraising
Total
New York Civil Liberties Union, Inc.
Income
Membership
Contributions
Foundation Grants
Miscellaneous
Transfer to Reserves
Total
900,386
619,246
472,076
8,506
829,221
1,170,993
Expenses
Program Services
Administration and General
Fundraising
Total
Expenses
9%
Administration
Expenses
16%
Administration
5,023,352
547,002
421,357
5,991,711
950,638
189,611
30,744
1,170,993
7%
Fundraising
3%
Fundraising
84%
Programs
81%
Programs
27 28

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
STAFF
Jonathan Horn, President, Attorney,
Law Office of Jonathan F. Horn
Robin Willner, Vice President, Vice President of
Global Community Initiatives, IBM
Geneviève Wachtell, Treasurer,
Associate Director of the Diane Abbey
Law Center for Children and Families,
New York Law School
Ronald Tabak, Secretary, Attorney,
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP
Claudia Angelos, Clinical Professor of Law,
New York University
Deborah Archer, Professor of Law,
New York Law School
Elliot H. Auerbach, Physicist Brookhaven
National Laboratory (Retired)
Barbara Bernstein, Executive Director,
Nassau Chapter NYCLU (Retired)
John Cirrin, Public Information Officer
Albany Public Library (Retired)
Rebekah Cook-Mack, Skadden Fellow,
Foreclosure Prevention Project of
South Brooklyn Legal Services
BOARD OF DIRECTORS EMERITI
Daniel Alterman, Attorney, Alterman & Boop LLP
William J. Butler, Attorney
May Del Rio, Public Affairs Executive, Retired,
Planned Parenthood
Tony Feldmesser
Margaret Fung, Asian American Legal Defense &
Education Fund
Janice Goodman, Attorney,
Law Offices of Janice Goodman
Joel Gora, Professor of Law,
Brooklyn Law School
John Dewitt Gregory, Professor,
Hofstra University School of Law
Ragna Henrichs, Attorney
Nahshon Craig, Attorney, Vice President
Business and Legal Affairs,
Rush Communications of NYC
Douglas Cuthbertson, Attorney,
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
Tanya Douglas, Public Interest Attorney
Thomas R. Frey, Attorney (Retired)
Tracy Givens-Hunter, Community Organizer,
Citizen Action of New York
Salvatore Gogliormella, Attorney,
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Peter J. Gollon, Physicist and Executive (Retired)
Kelly Haley, Interim Deputy Executive Director
at East Harlem Block Schools, Inc.
Michael J. Hall, Psychology Instructor,
Dutchess Community College
Samantha Howell, Pro Bono Coordinator,
Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York
George Kannar, Professor of Law,
SUNY-Buffalo School of Law
Amin Kassam, Senior Counsel, Bloomberg LP
Melissa Lee, J.D. Candidate, Brooklyn Law School
Julie F. Kowitz Margolies, Adjunct Clinical Law
Professor, Brooklyn Law School
Susan N. Herman, Professor of Law,
Brooklyn Law School, President, ACLU
Nancy Hollander
Miriam O. Hyman, Duane Morris LLP
Steven Hyman, Attorney
Deborah H. Karpatkin, Attorney,
Law Offices of Deborah H. Karpatkin
Lesly I. Lempert
Alan Levine, Attorney
Edwin J. Lopez-Soto, Attorney,
Faculty at Cornell University ILR School
Kathleen Peratis, Attorney
Arlene R. Popkin, Senior Trial Counsel,
Legal Aid Society of Westchester County
Jennifer McAllister-Nevins, Attorney
Amanda Oren, Assistant Public Defender,
Monroe County
Arjun Patel, Director,
PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting
Bruce Popper, Vice-President,
Western New York 1199 SEIU
Piro Rexhepi, Professor,
Dutchess Community College
Donna Schaper, Senior Minister,
Judson Memorial Church
Wendy Stryker, Attorney,
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC
Jordan Thomas, Advocacy Consultant,
Producer/Writer/Director
Ralph Valente, Program Manager of Technology,
FIS Global
Maria Valentin, Teacher, Scarsdale High School;
Adjunct Professor, Westchester Community
College; Of Counsel, Young & Bartlett
Ellen Yaroshefsky, Executive Director,
Jacob Burns Ethics Center in the Practice of
Law / Clinical Professor of Law at Benjamin N.
Cardozo School of Law
Shirley Rausher, Adjunct Professor,
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Ruth Rosenberg, Attorney
Barbara Shack, Legislative Director, Retired,
NYCLU
Donald Shack, Attorney
Gemma Solimene, Clinical Law Professor,
Fordham University School of Law
M.D. (Lita) Taracido, Attorney
Daan Zwick, Research Associate Eastman Kodak
(Retired)
Donna Lieberman, Executive Director
LEGAL
Noah Breslau, Outreach Coordinator
Philip Desgranges, Staff Attorney
Christopher Dunn, Associate Legal Director
Arthur Eisenberg, Legal Director
Beth Haroules, Kirkland & Ellis Chair for
Advocacy and Litigation on Behalf of People
with Disabilities
Erin Harrist, Staff Attorney
Mariko Hirose, Staff Attorney
Robert Hodgson, Skadden Fellow
Alexis Karteron, Senior Staff Attorney
Lisa Laplace, Staff Attorney
Aadhithi Padmanabhan, Skadden Fellow
Taylor Pendergrass, Senior Staff Attorney
Jessica Perry, Paralegal
Malita Picasso, Paralegal
Carmen Santiago, Senior Legal Assistant
Corey Stoughton, Senior Staff Attorney and
Upstate Litigation Coordinator
Jordan Wells, Bickel & Brewer Latino Institute for
Human Rights Fellow
Dana Wolfe, Soros Justice Fellow
LEGISLATIVE
Katharine Bodde, Policy Counsel
Corinne Carey, Assistant Legislative Director
Erika Lorshbough, Legislative Counsel
Robert Perry, Legislative Director
Peggy Ramin, Legislative Assistant
Rashida Richardson, Policy Counsel
ADVOCACY
Jalise Burt, Equal Justice Works Fellow
Becca Cadoff, Data and Policy Analyst
Lauren Frederico, Organizer
Susan Gottehrer, Chapter Coordinator
Deandra Khan, Organizer, Teen Activist Project
Johanna Miller, Advocacy Director
Michael Sisitzky, Policy Counsel
Candis Tolliver, Assistant Director for Organizing
DEVELOPMENT
Samantha Cohen, Development Director
Jessica Griffin, Grants & Communications Officer
Keith Kole, Database Manager
Morolake Odeleye, Development Officer
Wendy Sealey, Director of Leadership Gifts
Toni Smith-Thompson, Donor Relations Officer
FINANCE
Albert Birzh, Senior Accountant
Richard Bryant, Finance Director
Marangeli Merced, Full Charge Bookkeeper
CHAPTERS AND
REGIONAL OFFICES
Capital Region Chapter
Frank Donegan, Administrative Assistant
Melanie Trimble, Chapter Director
Central New York Chapter
Kevin Atwater, Administrative Assistant
Barrie Gewanter, Chapter Director
Genesee Valley Chapter
Marisol Martinez, Administrative Assistant
KaeLyn Rich, Chapter Director
Lower Hudson Valley Chapter
Daniel Berger, Chapter Director
Guisela Marroquin, Community Organizer
Lyzbeth Paredes, Administrative Assistant
Nassau County Chapter
Laurel Coston, Administrative Assistant
Jason Starr, Chapter Director
Suffolk County Chapter
Marina Nadler, Administrative Assistant
Amol Sinha, Chapter Director
Hector Gerardo, Long Island Organizer
CHAPTER AND
REGIONAL OFFICES
Headquarters and New York City
Regional Office
125 Broad Street, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10004
212-607-3300
Legislative Office
25 Elk Street
Albany, NY 12207
518-436-8598
Capital Region Office
90 State Street
Albany, NY 12207
518-436-8594
Central New York Office
731 James Street, Suite 205
Syracuse, NY 13203
315-471-2821
Genesee Valley Office
121 North Fitzhugh Street
Rochester, NY 14614
585-454-4334
Nassau County Office
33 Front Street, Suite 205
Hempstead, NY 11550
516-741-8520
Suffolk County Office
1 Touro Law Center
225 Eastview Drive, PA 221
Central Islip, NY 11722
631-650-2301
Lower Hudson Valley Office
297 Knollwood Road
White Plains, NY 10607
914-997-7479
OF COUNSEL
Claudia Angelos, Clinical Professor of Law,
New York University
Deborah H. Karpatkin, Attorney,
Law Offices of Deborah H. Karpatkin
ADMINISTRATION
Max Behrman, Operations Coordinator
Melissa Calderone, Administrative Manager
Monique Houston, Human Resources Associate
Helen Paille, Executive Assistant to the
Executive Director
Tamara Townsend, Archives & Records Coordinator
Tom Tyburski, Receptionist
COMMUNICATIONS
Lauren Alexander, Media Relations Officer
Abby Allender, Digital Media Strategist
Jennifer Carnig, Communications Director
Alberto Morales, Multi-media Producer
Abigail Nutter, Communications Assistant
Ujala Sehgal, Deputy Communications Director
Western Regional Office
John Curr, Chapter Director
Emily Terrana, Organizer
VOLUNTEERS
Stefan Berg, Esq.
Steve Chong
Anjali Dalal
Shawna Davis
Leora Harpaz
Ed Johnson
Harris Lindenfeld, Esq.
David Samber
Karen Subek
Tamara Taylor
David Velleman
Western Regional Office
The Ansonia Center
712 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14202
716-852-4033
29 30

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every turn and make sure that no challenge goes unanswered. For as little as
$35, a NYCLU membership also automatically makes you a member of the
national ACLU. Join today and stand with us as we strive to ensure a New York
that offers freedom and equality for all.
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DESILVER SOCIETY: LEAVE A LEGACY OF GIVING
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CRYSTAL EASTMAN LEADERSHIP SOCIETY
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Leadership Society brings together supporters who play a critical role in the
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change, affecting the lives of millions of people in New York and nationwide.
For more information, please contact us at 212.607.3300 or
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To give by mail: Make a check payable to “New York Civil Liberties Union” or
“NYCLU Foundation” and send it to:
New York Civil Liberties Union
Attn: Development Department
125 Broad Street, Floor 19
New York, NY 10004
212.607.3300
www.nyclu.org
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