Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today announced Esmeralda Simmons, Esq., former executive director of the Medgar Evers College Center for Law and Social Justice, as his appointment to the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), the nation's largest independent police oversight entity. This is the first appointment to the oversight body by a Public Advocate since the board's inception in 1993, following a 2019 City Charter revision which gave the Office of Public Advocate an appointment to the entity.
Under the charter amendment, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in November 2019, the Public Advocate was authorized to designate an appointee to the fifteen member board. Public Advocate Williams, who has a long history of working for better policing and fighting to improve transparency and accountability, was strongly supportive of the amendment.
"Esmeralda Simmons has decades of experience in working for truth, no matter who tells it, justice, no matter who it is for or against, and I'm proud to name her as the first-ever appointee to the Civilian Complaint Review Board by the Office of Public Advocate," said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. "Like this office, the CCRB is a watchdog, holding people and systems to account, and Esmeralda Simmons knows the systemic injustices in our law enforcement, seen today in the disparity in COVID-19 enforcement and seen for decades in cases that have come before the CCRB. I know she will be a powerful, fair voice for oversight."
"By working to hold members of the New York City Police Department accountable, the Civilian Complaint Review Board plays an incomparable role in the relationship between the police and civilians," said Esmeralda Simmons. "I am honored to have been appointed to serve in this capacity and look forward to drawing on my skills and experiences to advance justice in the City of New York."
Esmeralda Simmons is an accomplished lawyer and public servant who has spent decades fighting for human and civil rights on the municipal, state, and federal levels. Simmons founded, and served as executive director of, the Medgar Evers College Center for Law and Social Justice, a community-based racial justice advocacy center that focuses on legal work and research. Through the Center, she provided community organizations with legal counsel and research assistance.
Before founding and directing the Center for Law and Social Justice, Simmons served as First Deputy Commissioner at the New York State Division of Human Rights, where she developed and led the implementation of policy in support of New Yorkers' human and civil rights, and as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York.
Simmons has served as counsel or co-counsel on numerous major federal Voting Rights Act cases and has secured victories before the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the Metropolitan Black Bar and American Bar associations, Ile Ase, Inc., and the New York Voting Rights Consortium. Simmons is a graduate of Hunter College and Brooklyn Law School.
For more information on today's CCRB appointments, click here.
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