Woman Gives Birth In NYC Court

BROOKLYN, NY— Public defenders, labor organizers and elected officials gathered outside Brooklyn Criminal Court on Monday afternoon, chanting through bullhorns and carrying signs condemning conditions inside the borough’s arraignment system after a woman gave birth during her court appearance late Friday.

The rally, organized by the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys, blocked parts of Jay Street as protesters marched from 120 Schermerhorn St. to the Kings County district attorney’s office.

The protest followed the arrest and arraignment of Samantha Randazzo, 33, who gave birth to a baby boy in a Brooklyn courtroom shortly before midnight Friday after more than a day in custody, according to public defender organizations and police accounts.

The Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services said attorneys and staff witnessed Randazzo deliver her child “on a courtroom bench without adequate medical care, privacy, or dignity, surrounded by court personnel, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and others.”

Police disputed parts of that account. The NYPD said Randazzo declined medical attention at the time of her arrest Thursday and later informed officers she was pregnant and experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

Police said she was taken to Coney Island Hospital early Friday morning, discharged Friday night and transported to court before giving birth hours later.

Her attorney, Wynton Sharpe, told reporters court officers rushed to help as a judge cleared the courtroom. He denied that Randazzo was shackled during delivery.

At the rally Monday, speakers tied the birth to broader complaints about conditions inside Brooklyn Criminal Court.

“We have seen the deadly consequences of low-level offenses,” Brad Lander, who is running for New York’s 10th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House, said.“But there is something especially hideous when it comes to affecting that moment of giving birth.”

Earlier this year, three people died while awaiting arraignment at the Schermerhorn Street courthouse, according to city records.

“We need to invest in a system that invests in us,” said Conrad Blackburn, a public defender and labor organizer running for State Assembly in Harlem. “Instead of taking away our dignity, and instead of separating us from our families.”

The union called on city officials to restore emergency medical services personnel to courthouses and investigate the actions of the NYPD, the Office of Court Administration, New York City Health and Hospitals and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.

Among the protesters was Elena Beeley, a paralegal with the Legal Aid Society, who described the courthouse as part of a larger housing and criminal justice crisis.

“When New Yorkers elected a mayor to fix the housing crisis, we didn't mean one free night in shackles at the end of their life,” Beeley said.

Attorneys at the rally described daily interactions inside arraignment courtrooms that they said shaped their views of the system.

“I see this every day,” one attorney, who asked to remain anonymous, told Patch at the protest.

The attorney described judges reprimanding defendants for minor behavior during proceedings.

“It can be something as little as a client has a question and leans over to ask their attorney while they're standing up there, and the judges react as though it's a personal offense,” the protester said.

The attorney said public attention often fades because people do not want to imagine conditions inside the system.

“It can be so easy for people to look away from this because they don't want to think about it happening,” the attorney said.

As marchers moved toward the district attorney’s office Monday afternoon, organizers repeated calls for investigations and changes inside Brooklyn’s arraignment courts.

“So we’re demanding justice, and if not, then we’re threatening no peace," Beeley said.

The NYPD told Patch it had not decided whether officers would issue summonses or take disciplinary action against protesters who blocked traffic during the march.