Barbara Ellen Handschu (born June 28, 1942) is an American
political activist and
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
, whose surname was memorialized on a set of federal guidelines "
rderingrestrictions on police surveillance ... signed by the city
f New Yorkin 1985", which became known as the
Handschu decree.
Early life and education
Handschu completed her undergraduate studies at
New York University. She later earned her law degree at the
University of Michigan Law School in 1963.
She began her career as a law secretary to Justice Hilda Schwartz until her 1969 arrest at a
squatters' demonstration in
Manhattan caused her to switch careers to criminal defense lawyer.
Career
Handschu was an activist lawyer, representing, among others, the
Young Lords of Spanish Harlem (to one of whom, Robert Lemus, she was briefly married), the
Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. New ...
, the
Chicago Seven and participants in the
Attica Prison riots
The Attica Prison Riot, also known as the Attica Prison Rebellion, the Attica Uprising, or the Attica Prison Massacre, took place at the state prison in Attica, New York; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the high ...
.
She had been a resident of
Buffalo, New York, and now is exclusively practicing matrimonial and custody law in New York City; she no longer practices criminal law. She was the first female president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. As of 2016, she worked in New York as a divorce attorney.
Handschu has appeared in court multiple times regarding the original lawsuit filed against the New York Police Department in 1971 (over how the department spied on protestors during the Vietnam War era),
including in 2013, when the department came under scrutiny for targeting Muslim communities following a rollback of the Handschu guidelines by a judge in 2003.
Personal life
Handschu lives in Manhattan, returning to the city in 2013 after living in Buffalo for decades.
See also
''Police Surveillance of Political Activity -- The History and Current State of the Handschu Decree'' Testimony of Arthur N. Eisenberg Presented to the New York Advisory Committee to the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility fo ...
.
New York Civil Liberties Union (May 21, 2003).
References
External links
"Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention" March 24, 2007 ''N.Y. Times'' article, about revelations of NYPD violations of the
Handschu agreement
The Handschu agreement is a set of guidelines that regulate police behavior in New York City with regard to political activity.
Background
In 1971, members of the Black Panther Party known as the Panther 21 were tried for conspiracy to blow up p ...
leading up to and during the 2004 Republican Convention in New York City.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Handschu, Barbara
1942 births
Living people
American family lawyers
New York University alumni
University of Michigan Law School alumni
American women lawyers
Activists from New York (state)
21st-century American women