Relates to detaining persons for longer than twenty-four hours

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Michael Gianaris says this is needed

In June 2020, hundreds of people in New York City alone were detained for over 24 hours without being brought before a judge after being arrested in a series of protests in light of the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. When public defenders petitioned for their releases, New York City Criminal Court Judge Burke ruled the State was permitted to hold detainees for more than 24 hours due to "a civil unrest crisis within the overarching Covid-19 crisis." As a result, people arrested during the protests were forced into cramped quarters indefinitely, posing an unnecessary risk to their health. The dire situation of New Yorkers in detention more than 24 hours before arraignment continues without abatement. In 2026, people arrested in New York City have routinely been held in NYPD custody, on low-level offenses, for more than 24 hours before arraignment, in clear violation of C.P.L. §140.20(1) and People ex rel. Maxian o/b/o Roundtree v. Brown, 164 A.D.2d 56 (1st Dept. 1990), aff'd, 77 N.Y.2d 422 (1991) ("Round- tree"). In 2025 and 2026 delays have been the most acute in Brooklyn, where the NYPD has been carrying out Operation Fare Play, an initiative designed to crack down on minor subway crimes. For example, on February 13th, 128 people were held for over 24 hours after their arrest, includ- ing a 61-year-old man held 54 hours for entering a subway exit gate; another Brooklynite was held for 52 hours for double parking. The crisis in arraignment delays has led to numerous healthcare emergencies, including a woman's live, open-court labor and birth, while handcuffed, after she was held for 28 hours on May 15th, 2026 and on the death of 33 year old Zamiqua Miller on April 12th, 2026, who died on the floor of a jail cell in Kings County Central Booking after being held for 36 hours on misdemeanor charges. Indeed, since March 2025, five New Yorkers have died in custody while awaiting their arraignment for over 24 hours; all were charged with low-level offenses. The protections in this bill would prevent New Yorkers from experiencing unlawfully lengthy detention in the future, unless acceptable individualized reasons for the delay are provided. This bill will codify the 1991 New York Court of Appeals decision in Roundtree v. New York, which set a 24-hour rule for pre-arraignment detention. The Court reasoned that preliminary police duties which must be completed pre-arraignment can easily be accomplished within 24 hours, unless an acceptable reason for the delay is provided. Specifically, this bill would establish that any pre-arraignment detention exceeding 24 hours from arrest to arraignment constitutes an "unnecessary delay" under the law, until and unless the presumption is rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that such a delay was actually necessary for each individual petitioner identified in a writ of habeas corpus. By codify- ing the 1991 Court of Appeals case, we ensure uniformity across the state in compliance with the Court's ruling that custodial arrest past 24 hours is presumptively unnecessary and a violation of our state law. Codification ensures that there is clarity for both judges and petition- ers when these proceedings are initiated and statutory authority makes the initiation of such proceedings more accessible for people across our state.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.