New York State Bar Outlines 2025 Legislative Priorities, Aiming for Fairness, Equity

By Brian Lee, original publication 12/18/24.

At the approach of the 2025 legislative session, New York’s largest bar association announced that it will lobby Albany lawmakers to enact right-to-counsel measures for children, families and immigrants in New York.

The new priorities, the statewide bar group said, will move the state closer to creating a more fair and equitable justice system.

The New York State Bar Association said it will also continue to advocate fervently for a series of past proposals that have failed to become law.

Mayor Adams on Hearing the People and Other Matters

The Democrat mayor made the comments while speaking to Fox News's Martha MacCallum on Wednesday, in which he also discussed the illegal immigration crisis impacting the city.

The host asked Adams what he thought of President-elect Donald Trump's sweeping victory over Harris, in which he secured substantial support in the five NYC boroughs that have historically voted Democrat. McCollum inquired as to where the Democratic Party had gone wrong.

"We stopped speaking to people, we started speaking at people," Mayor Adams told McCollum. "Not hearing the people and you engaging in dialogue while individuals are fearful of affordability, losing their home, the future of their children, and you're having these intellectual conversations, and people are, like, saying, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm hurting and you're asking, 'Is Donald Trump Hitler or not?'" Adams said. "It's just not talking to the real needs of the people."

Daniel Penny Acquitted in Subway Chokehold Death

By Ben Kochman, Kyle Schnitzer and Emily Crane.

Marine veteran Daniel Penny [wearing brown jacket] was acquitted by a Manhattan jury Monday in the choke hold death of Jordan Neely – a lightning-rod case that cast a light on the mayhem plaguing Big Apple subways.

Jurors cleared Penny, a 26-year-old Long Islander, of criminally negligent homicide after the fatal caught-on-camera encounter on an uptown F train last year sparked fierce debate about mental illness, public safety and vigilantism.

A suited-up Penny, who remained stone-faced for much of the four-week trial, broke out a huge smile as his not guilty verdict was read out – prompting both applause and anger inside the courtroom as the high-profile case came to an end.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – who quickly faced calls to resign for bringing the case against Penny in the first place — said he respected the jury’s ruling and insisted prosecutors “followed the facts and the evidence from beginning to end.”

“It really, really hurts,” Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, said after the verdict. “I had enough of this. The system is rigged.”

Diane Coleman, Fierce Foe of the Right-to-Die Movement, Dies at 71

Photos in linked article:  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/us/diane-coleman-dead.html

Her fight for disability rights included founding a group called Not Dead Yet, which protested the work of Dr. Jack Kevorkian and others.

By Clay Risen

Published Nov. 20, 2024, updated Nov. 21, 2024

Diane Coleman, a fierce advocate for disability rights who took on Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the right-to-die movement and the U.S. health care system, which she charged was responsible for devaluing the lives of Americans like her with physical and mental impairments, died on Nov. 1 at her home in

Rochester, N.Y. She was 71.

More on Diane Coleman

Over the weekend, Diane Coleman [pictured right] of Not Dead Yet passed away. She was an icon in our movement and – personally – my mentor and friend.

When you met Diane, you immediately recognized that she was brilliant, with the rare exception of her vocational rehabilitation counselor. Her VR counselor apparently found Diane a job counting commercials, so she could work and wouldn’t even need to leave the house. Diane had other plans which meant moving to California and getting both a law degree (juris doctor) and a master’s in business administration. Armed with a JD/MBA, Diane worked for the California Department of Corporations as an attorney and volunteered her time for the disability rights and independent living movements. She served on the board of the Westside Center for Independent Living (now called Disability Community Resource Center) and used her vacation leave to participate in ADAPT actions which were focused at the time on securing access to public transportation. Diane was an ADAPT activist and organizer who – with Tom Olin and Lillibeth Narvarro – started the Los Angeles chapter of ADAPT in 1987.

Diane’s activist heart took her to (just outside) Nashville, Tennessee with Tom Olin, Carol Gill and Larry Voss. When she left her position in California, her coworkers sent her off with a gift of a bullhorn and handcuffs!

In Memory of Diane Coleman (Pictured Below)

https://www.newcomerrochester.com/obituaries/diane-coleman

The family will receive friends, 1 pm -4 pm Sunday November 10, 2024 at New Comer Cremations and Funerals, 6 Empire Blvd. (next to Donut's Delight). A funeral service will begin promptly following visitation at 4 pm.

Diane has been an accomplished person from an early age! Diane, shortly after birth was diagnosed with some form of Muscular Dystrophy. She defied all odds after telling her parents William and Dolores Coleman that she might not live past her teens. 

Diane went on to Graduate from Loy Norris High School as Valedictorian of her class. She then went on to University of Illinois to continue her studies. While there she lived independently and learned to drive a handicapped equipped van! Her parents were in amazement with all of her accomplishments! 

But then she continued by moving on to Los Angeles, California and attended UCLA and Graduated with her Law Degree. Then went on to pass the California State Bar. Shortly after, she went on to work for the State of California as a Lawyer for about 12 years. 

Diane became active in the disability rights movement with the group ADAPT. She was a big advocate in getting lifts on all buses! She was involved in many protests, being arrested many times for the cause.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Foe of Drug Makers and Regulators, Is Poised to Wield New Power

The New York Times reported:

 

When 12,000 public health professionals gathered in Minneapolis last week for the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the first administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump, issued a pointed warning about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“If R.F.K. has a significant influence on the next administration, that could further erode people’s willingness to get up to date with recommended vaccines,” Dr. Adams said. “I am worried about the impact that could have on our nation’s health, on our nation’s economy, on our global security.”

Diane Coleman, Leader of Not Dead Yet, has Died

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition *

It is very sad news to announce that the great Diane Coleman [pictured here] has died. Diane founded Not Dead Yet in 1996 and was the President and CEO of Not Dead Yet until her death. The fact that other Not Dead Yet organizations world-wide were founded in conjunction with Not Dead Yet in America proves that her activities had world-wide significance.

I have always had incredible respect for Diane's direction, understanding of the issues and her leadership skills. Diane led a group of people who differed greatly and yet she effectively enabled them to work together.

Not Dead Yet, under Diane's leadership, was the most effective organization in preventing the spread of assisted suicide in America.

Diane and Stephen Drake  

Diane Coleman and Stephen Drake spoke at some of the earlier EPC [Euthanasia Prevention Coalition] conferences that Not Dead Yet co-sponsored.

Not Dead Yet [was] incredibly successful during the Massachusetts assisted suicide voter initiative in 2012, Diane worked with John Kelly to establish Second Thoughts Connecticut as the disability rights voice - voting NO on question 2. This decision was a decisive factor in the defeat of the assisted suicide voter initiative in 2012.