On August 14, 2019, Kaplan Hecker urged the Second Circuit to reinstate a lawsuit by the Federal Defenders of New York that challenges ongoing Sixth Amendment violations at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. The case was originally filed in February 2019, when an electrical fire at the MDC led to a humanitarian crisis and the total shutdown of attorney access. At that time, Kaplan Hecker successfully obtained a TRO requiring the MDC to immediately restore legal visiting -- a substantial victory in its own right -- but a district judge subsequently ruled that the Federal Defenders are not within the "zone of interests" of the Sixth Amendment or the MDC's regulations. This decision was incorrect, as KHF's new filing explains. The "zone of interests" test does not apply to constitutional claims and, in any event, the test is satisfied as to both the Federal Defenders' constitutional and regulatory claims. 

You can learn more about the case by reading our brief here.