Judge rules de Blasio can drop Bloomberg's appeal, stop-and-frisk reform coming to NYC

NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- New York City's controversial stop-and-frisk law has been cleared for review as a federal appeals panel ruled Mayor Bill de Blasio has legal grounds to drop an appeal filed by the Bloomberg administration.

Last year a federal judge ruled the NYPD violated the constitutional rights of minorities by overwhelmingly targeting young black and Latino men. The court ordered review and reform of the practices and regulations that previously legally protected officers in those cases.

New York City and the police department promptly filed an appeal, which de Blasio actively campaigned on dropping.

Friday's ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is not a result of full retrial and upholding of the original decision -- although it has the exact same implications -- rather the court unanimously ruled that de Blasio had the legal authority as mayor to drop an appeal filed by a previous administration.

"Granting the unions' motions in the wake of the November 2013 mayoral election would essentially condone a collateral attack on the democratic process and could erode the legitimacy of decisions made by the democratically‐elected representatives of the people," the decisions says.

"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," declared Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, according to the New York Daily News.

"We can finally move forward with the process that for over a year we and thousands of New Yorkers have come to expect will happen."

Peter Zimroth, an attorney appointed to oversee the reforms, told the Wall Street Journal he expects the review to resume soon.

"In accordance with the court's ruling I expect to resume my monitorship role in the near future."