This morning, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took a huge step towards ending the ongoing legal battle over the NYPD's stop-and-frisk initiative.
According to the Associated Press, de Blasio's administration filed papers in the 2nd U.S. District Court of Appeals last Thursday to drop the appeal of Judge Shira A. Scheindlin's ruling that the practice needed reformation.
The New York Times mentions that the Bloomberg administration appealed the ruling, as well as the request that a federal monitor advise revisions to stop-and-frisk. The Times adds that the filing suggests that the city and civil rights attorneys have reached an accord on the issue, meaning that resolution is most likely imminent.
However, as the Associated Press acknowledges, police unions still plan to step in and move forward with the appeal. Murders are up 33 percent in the city compared to January 2013 and fewer guns have been recovered, facts that the appeal's supporters will no doubt use as ammunition to make sure that it's sustained.
[via Associated Press and New York Times]
