Metro

Stop-and-frisk ruling will hurt de Blasio: Lhota

 

GOP nominee for mayor Joe Lhota said the stunning appeals court ruling that put major reforms to stop-and-frisk on hold will hurt the campaign of Democrat Bill de Blasio.

A three-judge panel at the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that Manhattan federal judge Shira Scheindlin – who had ruled the police tactic had been unconstitutionally implemented by the NYPD – violated the Code of  Conduct for United States judges and booted her off the case.

“This is an extremely weak issue for Bill de Blasio right now,” Lhota Friday said on PIX 11.

“The entire core of his campaign just fell apart yesterday –because he ran the entire democratic primary on Stop, Question and Frisk.”

Lhota said he had been challenging Scheindlin’s decision from the get-to because he felt her ruling, which accused the NYPD of indirect racial bias, hadn’t been based on the facts.

He suggested de Blasio’s support for the judge and her ruling this summer was a sign of his character.

“You’ve got Bill de Blasio standing side by side with someone who has no judicial temperament,” Lhota said.

De Blasio said Thursday he was disappointed in the appeals court  ruling, and the delays it would cause to reforms such as the assignment of an independent federal monitor for the NYPD.

“We have to end the overuse of stop and frisk–and any delay only means a continued and unnecessary rift between our police and the people they protect,” said de Blasio.

Despite being 39 points down in the latest polls, Lhota said he would spend the remaining time before Tuesday’s election informing New Yorkers about de Blasio’s in ability to keep his promises as a former City Council member and current Public Advocate.

“I’m gonna show how shallow Bill de Blasio is, how he keeps changing his mind,”Lhota said.