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Raising concerns that the MTA will be “exiling the poor” and some profiled African Americans from New York City's transit system, The Legal Aid Society has issued a statement decrying an MTA resolution that supports banning repeat criminal offenders from mass transit.

On Monday, a Metropolitan Transit Authority committee agreed to consider a resolution that would call for a ban on offenders who repeatedly commit crimes on New York City's subways or other modes of public transportation, according to news reports.

Then on Wednesday, the MTA passed a resolution publicly supporting a ban on transit system criminal recidivists, such as those who commit repeated sexual offenses or robberies.

The MTA, a public benefit corporation that oversees public transportation across a large swath of the state, cannot institute such a ban itself, according to news reports. But the resolution, the reports said, called for the state legislature to take action, such as by authorizing courts to ban repeat offenders from the city's transit system for some unspecified amount of time.

On Monday evening, after the MTA's committee said it was considering calling for the ban, Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of The Legal Aid Society's criminal defense practice, issued a statement that said “unwanted and inappropriate touching on the subway is never welcomed,” but a ban “for those who live with certain convictions is not the answer and it only further disproportionately impacts black and brown men who have been profiled by police in trumped up stings.”

Luongo added that “New Yorkers rely on mass transit [for] access to jobs, services, educational opportunities and treatment programs,” and “this proposal is tantamount to locking someone away and it will deny their right to movement.”

“Yet again, the MTA Board and President are exiling the poor. This is not answer.” Luongo said in the release.

Contacted Thursday evening and Friday, a spokesman for the MTA did not comment in response to The Legal Aid Society.