The Legal Aid Society and other public defender groups involved in representing New Yorkers in the wake of the George Floyd-inspired protests are pointing out the high proportion of black and brown people who were held in city jails – sometimes for days – for an arraignment before a judge.

“Generally, people think, ‘Oh, you’re arrested, you know, you’re in the precinct, they let you go and, oh, you’ll never do that again,’” said Rigodis Appling, a Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society and a founding member of its Black Attorneys of Legal Aid caucus. “No, it’s ongoing. And you’re at the mercy of the criminal justice system, which shows no mercy most of the time.”