1.0link57690<![CDATA[Thousands Of New York City Panhandlers Granted Class Action Status]]>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/07/24/thousands-of-new-york-cit_n_57690.htmlA federal judge on Tuesday granted class-action status to thousands of suspected panhandlers arrested or forced off streets over the past 15 years by police who used a law that was declared unconstitutional.
In a ruling critical of police and prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin also made defendants of 553 law enforcement agencies in 62 counties statewide in a lawsuit brought on behalf of anybody illegally subjected to the law.